Destiny's Left Turn
by Jason Thompson
Summary: At the end of the episode Hero, the PTB choose another to have the visions for Angel
1. Dysfunction

Dysfunction  
An Angel: The Series Fanfiction Story  
Author: Jason Thompson  
Pilamsega@qix.net  
April 19, 2002  
  
Disclaimer:Once upon a time there was a guy he wrote a story with characters and settings he didn't own, but he put a disclaimer on his story and that made it a little less illegal. BTVS and Angel are owned by Joss, Fox, Mutant Enemy, UPN and the WB. I don't own anything except the situation characters are in.   
  
Category:  
  
Spoilers:Prophecy Girl, The Zeppo, Hero, and Parting Gifts  
  
Warnings:  
  
Summary:   
  
Rating:Rated  
  
Distribution:Ask First.   
  
Notes:  
  
Dedication:Dedicated to the usual suspects; Bri, Mary, Duchess, Dale, Blaire, Stone Cold, Ice Wing, Arashi, Aslan, Vega, Tony D, Jen Zimmer, Louise, Sairs, and Queen Angel who have allowed me to bounce my ideas off them, and Krac, cause she has the evil bunny slippers.  
  
Dysfunction  
  
Previously on Buffy and Angel…  
  
… "How can I put this clearly?" Xander looked Angel over with a smirk, then pulled a cross from his pocket and held it in Angel's face, backing the vampire towards the couch. "I don't like you, at the end of the day, I pretty much think you're a vampire."  
  
***  
  
… Cordelia almost laughed, "'Integral part' of the group? Xander, you're the *useless* part of the group. You're the Zeppo."  
  
***  
  
Doyle looked Angel in the eye, before glancing briefly at the light bomb as it was powering up. "The good fight yeah? You never know 'til you've been tested? I get that now." With a backhand, Doyle knocked from the upper level to the floor of the cargo hold. He turned to Cordelia and pulled her into a kiss. Pulling back, Doyle smiled at Cordelia, "Too bad we'll know," He allowed his demon features to show themselves, "If this is a face you could learn to love." Doyle leapt from the platform to the light bomb.  
  
Angel climbed the platform to pursue him. "Doyle! Doyle! No!"  
  
***  
And Now…  
***  
  
The male oracle sighed at the vampire in annoyance, "You try our patience, what is done…"  
  
Angel shook his head as he interrupted him, "Can not be undone, you keep saying that." Angel began to pace, "But I need Doyle. You can fold time. You've done it before. Bring him back."  
  
The female oracle shook her head, "To what end? To nullify his noble death? To leave his atonement unfulfilled?"  
  
Angel nodded, feeling he might be getting through to them, "If it means he lives."  
  
The male oracle resisted rolling his eyes, "He doesn't so you may."  
  
The female stepped forward, "You live so that others will."  
  
"He's my friend."  
  
"If that is true, so shall it ever be."  
  
The male oracle was unmoved, "Enough, do not come to us again with such a self-serving request."   
  
The oracles turned away, but Angel stopped them, "There is one consequence." The oracles stopped but did not face him, "Doyle was my link to the Powers. Without Doyle, I'm fighting blind."  
  
The female turned, "All will soon be made clear. For every door that closes, another opens."  
  
The male oracle raised his hand, "And for every door that opens…" Angel suddenly was thrown backwards out of the chamber.  
  
***  
  
Meanwhile, many miles from Los Angeles, in Sunnydale, Xander Harris was sound asleep in his parents' basement. In his slumber, Xander was unaware of the back door opening and the intruder entering. The intruder crept over to the bed and sat down on the edge. Had Xander been stirred, he would have recognized the intruder as his girlfriend, Anya.  
  
Anya sadly smoothed Xander's hair away, "I'm sorry for this Xander." She leaned over and placed a kiss on Xander's forehead briefly, and then Anya pulled away before kissing his lips softly. As her lips touched his flesh, a purple mist left her lips and slowly passed into Xander. Xander stirred briefly, and Anya smoothed his hair and cooed in a comforting fashion, settling Xander.  
  
Anya pulled away and held her tears at bay, "I just wish I could come with you and help with what's coming…" Anya stood up and walked to the door, she turned back to Xander who was sleeping peacefully again, a stray tear slid down her cheek, "Good-bye Xander." She turned and left the basement as quickly as she could, making her way to the waiting taxi before she broke down quietly in the back.  
  
Xander continued in his sleep, unaware of the destiny that had just been thrust upon him.  
  
***  
  
"So Mr. Harris. It said on your application, you were a burger cook at Double Meat."  
  
Xander sighed as his manager, Skip, handed him a spatula, "That's right Skip."  
  
Skip smiled, "Good, it's not that different here. Why don't you get started, the lunch rush is in about half an hour." Skip turned to leave, but paused, "Oh and Xander?"  
  
Xander turned from the grill, "Yeah?"  
  
Skip smiled, "Welcome to team Happy Burger."  
  
Xander smiled until Skip walked away, his smiled then disappeared, "Thanks dick." Xander shook his head and turned back to the grill.  
  
It was about ten minutes later when Xander heard his name called, "Hey! Xander!"  
  
Xander turned around and waved his spatula at Buffy and Willow, "Just a sec guys, let me get someone to cover the grill." Xander turned back to the grill but suddenly felt dizzy. He shook his head to clear his head, the dizziness quickly passed. Xander shook his head one more time, "Weird." Xander was suddenly struck with mind numbing pain. His legs buckled and he pitched backwards and he was bombarded with images. He couldn't make out most of them, but he could see Cordelia and Wesley. Then he saw Angel… suddenly he saw a building explode, Angel was fighting a guy who looked like he didn't return a Darth Maul costume from Halloween. Then he saw a mailbox and the address stuck out clearly.  
  
Suddenly he could only see the inside of his eyelids; his eyes remained clenched shut until the near crippling pain faded. Finally Xander cracked an eyelid; he could see the ceiling and Willow looking down at him. Xander opened his other eye and saw Buffy and Willow were hovering over him, while a couple of his co-workers were watching. Xander heard someone clearing their throat; he looked towards the noise and found Skip standing at his feet, with a half-cooked burger sticking out of his shirt pocket. Xander sighed, "Shit."  
  
***  
  
Xander sighed, "Willow, it wasn't a seizure."  
  
Willow had only stopped pawing at Xander long enough for Skip to fire him. Now Buffy and Willow were walking him home. "Xander, what do you call, collapsing and twitching on the floor? Hmm?"  
  
Xander smirked, "The Humpty Dance?" Buffy choked on her laughter, while Willow scowled, "Willow I'm fine. Besides, I don't think seizures have pictures." Xander suddenly stopped, "Wills? You got a pen and pad?" Willow stopped and reached into her book bag, she produced a pen and a notebook. Xander quickly scribbled something down, "God, that's been bothering me since I saw it." He tore some of the paper away and jammed it in his pocket, before handing the pad and pen back to Willow. Xander turned and continued walking.  
  
Buffy and Willow trotted to catch back up with him, Buffy tapped his shoulder, "Xander? What's that about pictures?" They passed the bus station, before Xander stopped.  
  
Xander looked at Buffy in confusion for a moment, before his eyes lit in recognition, "Oh yeah, when whatever happened I saw a bunch of stuff; Demons, vamps, guys in suits, Wes and Cordy were there, and Angel, then this office building exploded. I saw a mailbox with a lil' drawing of a… um… I think it was an owl or a lobster maybe a bat…" Xander saw Buffy scowl at him, "Sorry. Anyway, there was an address and I couldn't stop thinking about it. So I wrote it down. I think it might be in LA somewhere. It definitely felt wiggy, and definitely was NOT a seizure Willow." Willow stopped her coming protest and nodded.  
  
Buffy chewed on her lip for a little bit before she spoke again, "You think it was Hellmouth wiggy?" Buffy and Willow suddenly realized Xander wasn't with them. They looked around and found Xander walking up to the ticket counter at the Bus Station.  
  
When they walked up to Xander, they heard him speaking to the agent, "So the next bus to LA is at seven thirty?" The agent nodded, "One ticket please." Xander dug into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He dropped forty bucks on the counter. The agent took his money and gave him five dollars in change. Xander took the money and his ticket, "Thanks." Xander turned to walk away and found Buffy and Willow staring at him, "I'm going to LA." He shrugged and his eyebrows rose for a second before he continued on.  
  
Willow and Buffy watched Xander in shock for a few seconds before following. Buffy tapped Xander on the shoulder, "Xander? Is there a reason you are going Greyhound?"  
  
Xander looked up from the small piece of paper he was holding, "Hmm? Oh yeah, I'm going to this address." He continued walking.  
  
Buffy turned to Willow and nodded, "Well that clears everything up, doesn't it Willow?"  
  
Willow smirked and nodded, "Oh yeah, to a nice shade of 'Huh?' Why are you going to that address?"  
  
Xander shrugged, "Beats me. I know it's important though." Xander turned down his street, "I think it has to do with the symbol. It and the address stood out too much in my… vision? That's sounds right, I think it was a vision, either that or too many spicy Buffalo Wings."   
  
Xander walked away, leaving Buffy and Willow in stunned silence. After a moment or two they turned to each other and said in unison, "Buffalo Wings." The pair then followed Xander down his street.  
  
***  
  
"Um Xander?" Buffy and Willow were watching as Xander was seemingly clearing his place out, "How long are you staying in LA?"  
  
Xander was mostly concentrating on making sure he had his clothes, and as a result, was mostly ignoring the Slayer and her red-headed companion. Willow raised an eyebrow at Xander who had stuffed his duffle to bursting. He closed the duffle then crossed the room to a coffee can in the window. Opening it, he pulled out a small wad of bills. He closed the coffee can and passed Buffy, he reached behind the jars of nuts bolts and screws on the workbench producing a mason jar with another handful of bills. Xander smiled sheepishly, "I hide my emergency money in a bunch of spots, Mom and Dad have sticky fingers if you catch my drift."  
  
Xander criss-crossed the room, searching seemingly useless objects and finding money; sixty bucks in the broken Beta-max in the corner, thirty underneath the Tide, thirty in the pages of a copy of The Amazing Spider-Man, and other strategic locations. Willow grabbed Xander's forearm, stopping his raid on his rainy day money supply, "What's going on Xander?"  
  
Xander shrugged, "I'm not sure, but I want to be prepared, so I'll need more than the six bucks in my wallet."  
  
Buffy grabbed Xander's bill filled hand and said, "Xander you have probably three hundred bucks in your hand. Where…" Buffy paused and inspected the money again, "Why is most of this money in fives and ones? Is that a woman's phone number?"  
  
Xander paled for a moment and snatched his hand away and stuffed the money in his pocket. "I don't know what you're talking about." Xander grabbed his duffle and slung it over his shoulder.  
  
Buffy sighed, "Xander, how long could this take? So unless lap dances are part of your plan, I'm not sure you need three hundred bucks."  
  
Xander shrugged, "Who said lap dances weren't part of my plan? LA's got some really nice clubs." Xander winked at Buffy before he walked to the door and left.  
  
"Uh… Buffy?" Willow's caused Buffy to turn, "What's this?" Buffy's eyes widened when she saw Willow holding a sequined G-string that had been hanging out of Xander's underwear drawer.  
  
***  
  
Angel sighed and looked at the demon sitting across from him, "And you can't think of anyone who's got a beef with you?"  
  
Barney shook his head, "No one! It's like my old man always said, you can't please everyone. So you gonna help me or not?" Angel shrugged, and Barney walked off to the bathroom out front.  
  
Angel walked out front and looked over the notes on Cordelia's desk. He heard the front door open, looking up Angel saw Cordelia enter the office with a solemn look on her face, "Hey." Cordelia looked up at him forlornly, "Everything okay?"  
  
"No! Everything is very not okay! I blew the audition Angel! I bombed!" Cordelia crossed the office and sank almost bonelessly into her chair.  
  
Barney came out of the bathroom wiping his hand on his pants, seeing Cordelia, Barney smiled, "Hey how'd the audition… oh, I'm sorry kiddo, you'll get 'em next time." Barney winked.  
  
***  
  
Xander got out of the cab, and immediately recognized the office building from his vision. He walked up the steps and noticed the mailboxes along the wall. Xander looked them over until he noticed the little drawing from his vision, Xander tilted his head as he inspected it. "What the hell are you?" He sighed and stood up before walking to the office the mailbox belonged to. Stopping at the door Xander looked up and saw them, "Oh crap… This is going to suck."  
  
Xander reached for the doorknob when the door suddenly opened. Xander suddenly found himself face to face with a red-brown, horned demon. Xander, of course, dealed with this demon the only way he could, he yelped and jumped. The demon jumped back too, "Man you scared the crap outta me!"  
  
Xander looked at the demon with wide eyes, "You?!"  
  
The door was yanked open the rest of the way and Xander Harris was now face to face with one scowling Cordelia Chase. "What do you want Willow-Kisser?"  
  
Xander scowled at Cordelia in return, "Nice to see you too Cordelia."  
  
Cordelia was unmoved; she pushed the demon aside and placed her hands on her hips, barring Xander from entry. "I don't think you're welcome here."  
  
Xander smirked, patted Cordelia on the head and gently pushed her to the side, which only served to royally piss her off. Xander looked across the office to Angel, who'd been pouring a cup of coffee. "You," Angel looked up at Xander with a raised eyebrow, "I need to talk to you."  
  
Xander was surprised when Angel actually chuckled, "You have a cross this time?"  
  
Xander shook his head, "No cross, just a migraine with pictures I think you might be interested in."  
  
He wasn't expecting a warm welcome, but he also wasn't expecting Angel to fumble his coffee cup and it to crash and shatter on the floor. Angel ignored the coffee cup's demise, he numbly opened the door and held his arm out in invitation. Xander entered the office with Angel trailing him.  
  
***  
  
"You."  
  
Xander sighed, "Me."  
  
Angel leaned forward, folding his hands on the desk. "You?"  
  
"Me." Xander sighed again, with a little more anger.  
  
Angel shook his head, "You?"  
  
Xander groaned, "For Christ's sake Angel! I was THERE, when I had it!"  
  
The vampire held his hands up, "Sorry. It's just that… well, it's you." Angel paused and regrouped when the man sitting across from him scowled, "Sorry. It's a shock."  
  
Xander smirked, "You think it's shocking to you? Believe me, the blinding pain and the images were pretty clear. I was led here, and I get the feeling…" Xander felt a touch of nausea, "I felt that… oh shit! Here comes another one!" Xander clenched his eyes shut. The first wave of pain hit him and caused him to pitch backwards, taking the chair with him. He saw images, too many to sort them out right away. He could see the demon he saw at the door, and a big grey… blobby… thing.   
  
The vision faded, and when Xander managed to open his eyes again, he saw Angel and Cordelia arguing, "Why did you hit him Angel?"  
  
"I didn't hit him… he had…" The vampire gestured impotently. "Xander, well he had what you'd call…"  
  
Xander groaned and slowly sat up, "Oh God… these vision things… In a word, they suck!" He stood up and took a step on shaky legs, "I need a receipt so I can return them." He slapped a hand over his eyes. "Angel, do you guys have aspirin?"  
  
Xander's senses were bombarded by Cordelia's shrill voice, "HE had a VISION!"  
  
Whipping around with a glare, Xander hissed, "Yes! Oh and Shh!" He then returned to rubbing his temples, "I think that was actually worse than the first one."  
  
"Oh God…" Xander and Cordelia looked up at Angel, who had slumped down into his chair, "Xander had a vision… He's my link to the Powers."  
  
"Visions? Powers? What is going on?" Xander looked around, his arms out hoping for answers.  
  
Cordelia paled, "Oh no… Xander's our new Vision Boy." She slumped down into another chair and buried her face in her hands.  
  
Sighing, Xander sat down, "Please your enthusiasm is overwhelming."  
  
All three of them were startled from either their brooding or pouting by the knock at the office door. Looking up, Angel waved Barney in. "Not to be pushy, but are you going to go check it out?"  
  
Angel nodded and stood up. He picked up a legal pad and a pencil, handing it to Xander, he said, "Write down anything important, or draw what you saw. I'll be back in a while." Angel then turned to Cordelia, "You guys keep an eye on Barney." Grabbing his coat, the vampire was in the elevator and gone.  
  
***  
  
Cordelia watched over Xander's shoulder as he drew some sort of shape. "What on earth is that?"  
  
Xander erased a stray line, "That is what I've officially dubbed, 'The Big Grey Blobby Thing' or Tim for short." He turned to her with a smirk. She rolled her yes in return, before taking the legal pad and cracking Xander lightly on head.  
  
Cordelia padded into the kitchen, "Still a Tool after all this time."  
  
Xander stood up to follow her into the kitchen, but the lights exploded in his eyes, and blackness claimed him…  
  
***  
  
Cordelia turned around when Xander didn't make a sarcastic comment in return. She would have screamed had the baseball bat Barney brought down on her head not caused her to crash to the floor, unconscious.  
  
***  
  
Barney led Hank down the stairs to where he had Cordelia and Xander tied up. "What took you so long? At least they're still out." He pointed to Xander, "It's the boy, he's the Seer. We'll leave the girl, they won't know where we are anyway." Hank looked blankly at the unconscious Cordelia, whose breasts were threatening to pop out of her sweater. Barney sighed and snapped his fingers, "Hank! Let's go!"  
  
Hank snapped out of his trance and slung Xander over his shoulder. He took one last, longing glance at Cordelia before he and Barney made their way to the stairs.  
  
***  
  
Angel's car was racing back to the office, he skidded around a corner, "We have to make it back!"  
  
Meanwhile, Angel's passenger held a white-knuckle grip on the dashboard. "Angel…"  
  
"Not now Wes! God, I'm an idiot! I fell for his act hook, line, and sinker!" He took another corner at break-neck speed, ignoring the car horns. "Xander and Cordelia could be in serious danger…"  
  
"Oh dear, what will… I mean, Miss Summers…"  
  
Angel's eyes widened, "Oh God! Buffy will kill me, Xander's her…"  
  
"Best friend?"  
  
Angel shrugged, "Closer to lap dog, but yeah! She'll tack me up to a cross. One day here and I got him killed for his eyes." Angel swung the Plymouth into his parking garage and yanked his car into his parking spot. He killed the engine and leapt out of the car, Wesley could barely keep up. Angel swung his steel apartment door open as though it was made of paper. "Cordelia! Xander!" By the time Wesley made it in, the vampire had checked every room and was untying Cordelia. "Are you okay?"  
  
Cordelia shook her head groggily, "Not exactly… Barney's…"  
  
"…What Xander's vision was warning us about, he's harvesting." Angel spun around, "Wes, there's some books on the shelf, might help with the translation."  
  
Wesley nodded and walked over to the shelf, looking over the books. Angel turned back to Cordelia, "Did Xander make any notes on his…"  
  
Cordelia gingerly rubbed the sore spot on the top of her head, "Ugly grey blobby thing?"  
  
Angel raised an eyebrow, "It's grey?"  
  
"No his vision, it had an ugly grey blobby thing. It's on the legal pad on the counter."  
  
Angel reached up and took the note pad, he vaguely recognized the shape. "I've seen this." He tilted the drawing, "I think it's a sculpture. Van Geisen, 'Maiden with Urn' I think. Maybe this is where they took Xander."  
  
Cordelia looked at it, "So if we figure out where it is, we can find Xander right?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
She nodded and smiled, "Then you get all 'Grr' Vampy, and we're home before Talk Soup." Angel looked at his friend in confusion. Cordelia deflated, "I'll go upstairs and find out where it is."  
  
Wesley crossed the room as he read, "Oh dear. Angel, Klu'click'ka… 'Caller sale.' Angel it's an auction. They're going to sell off those parts. If they have Xander, and you say he's a Seer. That would mean they're going to sell…"  
  
"They'll sell Xander's eyes."  
  
***  
  
Xander opened his eyes slowly, he could see a big grey blob. He clenched his eyes shut and reopened them, his vision cleared but the blob didn't focus. "Hey Tim, what's up?"  
  
Xander suddenly found himself yanked to his feet. The demon, Barney came into his view, "Time to sell those peepers kiddo. You're going to make me a pretty penny."  
  
Xander resisted as best he could while be dragged along, "Couldn't you just sell 'em on Ebay and skip out with the money like everyone else? I'm kinda attached to my eyes, y'know, literally attached."  
  
"Maybe I'll cut out your tongue, but I doubt that anyone would want that."  
  
Xander laughed nervously, "Just Anya… Heh, never mind that."  
  
***  
  
"I got it!"  
  
Angel and Wesley jumped up and ran up the steps to the front office. They crowded around Cordelia's computer. Angel tried to scan the article but patience wasn't his strength at the moment. "Where is it?"  
  
"The statue was sold to the Ramsey Hotel Chain. The Hotel Ramsey in LA was recently renovated; the sculpture which used to be in the lobby is still in their possession."  
  
Angel nodded, "Let's go, we're wasting time." He headed back towards his office. Angel ran down the steps, Wesley and Cordelia were behind. He grabbed some weapons then made his way to the garage, with Cordelia and Wesley in tow.  
  
***  
  
Xander watched with trepidation as the Albino and the Man-Woman-Beast were in a bidding war over his eyes. "Thirteen, do I hear 13,000?" The Albino raised his paddle, "13." The MWB, "14" Albino "15" MWB "16" Albino "17" MWB "18" Albino "19." Suddenly, the MWB cracked his/hers/its paddle over the Albino's head and threw him down. Then it calmly raised its paddle. "20." Xander shrugged and thought that was one way to win, "20,000 going one, going twice."  
  
Suddenly a dark skinned woman in a business suit raised her paddle, "30,000."  
  
Xander's eyed widened and Barney nearly choked. Banging his gavel, Barney said, "Sold to the lovely representative of Wolfram and Hart for 30,000 dollars."  
  
***  
  
Barney smiled at the lawyer, "I'm sure you'll be happy with your purchase."  
  
She smiled, "We won't have a need for the body. My employers have requested the eyes be extracted."  
  
Xander's eyes widened, Barney smiled, "Extraction is tricky, we run the risk of damaging the gift. I'll need an extra thousand."  
  
The woman was outraged, "That's nonsense, extraction is always in the price."  
  
"Not with Seer's eyes."  
  
"I've never heard of such a thing."  
  
Barney smirked, "There's never been such a thing on the market before. An extra thousand, or take him as is."  
  
Xander was praying that she was a cheapskate. She sighed, "Go ahead."  
  
Barney picked up a pair of what Xander could only describe as tongs from the Spanish Inquisition collection and came towards Xander. "Alright, stay still, this is going to hurt a lot."  
  
Xander began to chant to himself, "Oh crap, oh crap, ohcrapohcrap…" Just as Barney opened the tongs, there was a disturbance out front and a security guy came flying in, crashing into some of the other items. Xander's eyes brightened, "Buffy!" Angel Wesley and Cordelia came running in fighting, "Oh yeah, I forgot."  
  
Barney and Hank ran into the fray, and Xander watched from where he was tied to his seat. A few moments later he heard Cordelia's voice in his ear and he could feel the ropes moving, "You alright?"  
  
Xander looked over his shoulder at Cordelia and smirked, "Can I go back to Sunnydale and be Donut Boy again?"  
  
Cordelia smiled, "Sorry Xand, you're a 'Zeppo' no more."  
  
Xander's hands came free and he jumped up, he charged across the room and tackled Barney, "Asshole!" Barney and Xander grappled on the ground for a moment but Barney came out on top. He wrapped his fingers around Xander's throat, "I'll kill you, and then yank out your eyes!"  
  
Xander's hand groped wildly, his fingers fell on something. Xander gripped it and brought it down hard on Barney's shoulder. Xander looked to see he had stabbed Barney with a horn of some sort. Barney fell off Xander and his body turned black before it dissipated. Standing up, Xander picked up the horn. He turned to Cordelia and Wesley who were next to him, "What the Hell was this thing?"  
  
Wesley adjusted his glasses, "Kungai horn."  
  
Xander nodded in false understanding, "That explains that then."  
  
Angel was brushing himself off as he walked up to them. Xander handed the horn to Wesley and turned to the vampire in front of him. "Well Angel, as much as I hate to say this, thanks for saving my life." Xander held out his hand to Angel. After a moment, Angel took it and they shook.  
  
***  
  
The phone was ringing when Buffy entered her dorm room. Buffy picked up the phone, "Hello?"  
  
Buff?  
  
Buffy smiled and said, "Hey Xand. How's LA?"  
  
Um… That's why I called. It doesn't look like I'm going to be able to come back anytime soon.  
  
Buffy had to fight to keep from dropping the phone, "What? Why?"  
  
The vision I had Buffy. It turns out I've been chosen to be a Seer. I'm working with… well for is actually more like it… I'm not sure if I'm on the payroll, but I'm definitely having visions for him… Man I can't explain…  
  
Buffy could only think of one reason why Xander would be stammering and avoiding saying his new boss' name, "Who Xander?" She didn't want to hear this.  
  
Well, that's a funny story… See I'm working for mmmph.  
  
Buffy spoke more forcefully, "Who Xander?"  
  
Angel.  
  
Buffy wanted to cry, scream and laugh all at the same time. Xander had been dragged away from her by some big destiny thing to help Angel. It was way too funny that the three of them were constantly having a competition, funny because this time, Xander would be the prize. She wondered for a moment if she asked Xander to come home, if he would. But in the end she knew, whatever Angel, Cordelia and now Xander were caught up in, it was big, and she couldn't hamstring Angel with a clear conscience. Finally she said, "I understand Xander. You be careful okay. Don't get dead, or I'll kick your ass in Heaven."  
  
She heard Xander laugh lightly, Roger that Buff. The same goes for you.  
  
Buffy bit back tears. "I love you Xand, you know that right?"  
  
I know Buff, I love you too. I gotta go, I'm kinda tired.  
  
Buffy nodded and said, "You make sure to call a lot."  
  
I will. Bye Buffy.  
  
"Bye Xander." Buffy hung up the phone and crawled into bed, and tried not to cry.  
  
***  
  
Xander hung up the phone and sighed. He hated doing that to Buffy. He heard the door to the stairs open. Cordelia appeared in front of him, she sat on Angel's desk "You okay?"  
  
Xander smiled sadly, "For a guy who just had to abandon his friends, I'm peachy."  
  
Cordelia reached out and took Xander's hand, squeezing it. "I'm sorry."  
  
Xander shrugged, "S'okay, I probably have it coming considering the way I've treated some people."  
  
Cordelia shook her head, "Get this through your head Xander. Despite my initial reaction, I forgave you a long time ago. You'll be alright. Willow said you were having trouble fitting in there, maybe things will be better for you here."  
  
Xander smirked, "As long as I don't get captured by demons who want to carve my eyes out week after week, I'll be fine."  
  
Cordelia laughed, "Not every week, sometimes things get really tough." Xander laughed and Cordelia stood, "C'mon. After a long night of fighting evil, Angel makes eggs."  
  
Xander followed Cordelia down the stairs. They found Wesley sitting at the table, Xander sat down and turned to the Ex-Watcher turned Demon Hunter. "I thought you were blowin' town Wes?"  
  
Wes stammered for a moment 'til the vampire handed Cordelia a plate of eggs and said, "I asked Wes to stick around just for a little while, in case we need backup. He graciously accepted."  
  
Xander nodded, "Okay. So are we one dysfunctional family or what?"  
  
Angel smirked as he returned with another plate, "Xander?"  
  
The young man smirked back at his new employer, "Yeah Boss?"  
  
He plopped the plate in front of the young Seer, "Shut up and eat."  
  
Xander picked up a fork, "That's my kind of boss."  
  
--End-- 


	2. In the Family Way

In the Family Way  
An Angel: The Series Fanfiction Story  
Author: Jason Thompson  
Pilamsega@yahoo.com  
February 5, 2003  
  
Disclaimer:Once upon a time there was a guy he wrote a story with characters and settings he didn't own, but he put a disclaimer on his story and that made it a little less illegal. BTVS and Angel are owned by Joss, Fox, Mutant Enemy, the UPN and the WB. I don't own anything except the situation characters are in.   
  
Category:AU Cordelia/Xander, With some Faith/Xander & Angel/Cordelia  
  
Spoilers:Buffy Seasons 1 through 3; primarily, "Prophecy Girl, The Fluke Arc, and The Zeppo." Angel Season 1 through "Hero."   
  
Warnings:  
  
Summary:Continuation of "Dysfunction; "Cordelia and Xander spend a night together, that's never a good thing in the Angelverse.  
  
Rating:PG-13  
  
Distribution:Ask First.   
  
Notes:  
  
Dedication:Dedicated to the usual suspects; Bri, Mary, Duchess, Dale, Blaire, Stone Cold, Ice Wing, Arashi, Aslan, Vega, Tony D, Jen Zimmer, Louise, Sairs, and Queen Angel who have allowed me to bounce my ideas off them, and Krac, cause she has the evil bunny slippers.  
  
In the Family Way  
  
Previously on Angel:  
  
The male oracle raised his hand, "And for every door that opens..." Angel suddenly was thrown backwards out of the chamber.  
  
***  
  
Anya sadly smoothed Xander's hair away, "I'm sorry for this Xander." She leaned over and placed a kiss on Xander's lips softly… a purple mist left her lips and slowly passed into Xander.  
  
***  
  
Xander was suddenly struck with mind numbing pain. His legs buckled and he pitched backwards and he was bombarded with images…  
  
***  
  
Xander sighed, "Willow, it wasn't a seizure."  
  
Willow had only stopped pawing at Xander long enough for Skip to fire him. Now Buffy and Willow were walking him home. "Xander, what do you call, collapsing and twitching on the floor? Hmm?"  
  
***  
  
"Oh God..." Xander and Cordelia looked up at Angel, who had slumped down into his chair, "Xander had a vision... He's my link to the Powers."  
  
***  
  
Buffy smiled and said, "Hey Xand. How's LA?"  
  
Um. That's why I called. It doesn't look like I'm going to be able to come back anytime soon.  
  
***  
  
Cordelia shook her head, "Get this through your head Xander… You'll be alright."  
  
Xander smirked, "As long as I don't get captured by demons who want to carve my eyes out week after week, I'll be fine."  
  
Cordelia laughed, "Not every week, sometimes things get really tough."  
  
***  
And Now…  
***  
  
For Cordelia Chase, applying lipstick was a pain-stakingly fragile process. It required concentration, a steady hand, and a gentle touch. In short, and to quote her Ex-boyfriend and Angel's direct emergency line to the PTB, applying lipstick was "Zen and the Art of Cheerleading."  
  
It was an exercise made even more challenging considering she had no access to a mirror and had to use one of the windows in a pinch. It was an unspoken rule around the office that they didn't have mirrors in the office; Angel was uncomfortable around them so Wesley in a moment of boot-licking took the mirror in the bathroom down. Normally Cordelia brought a hand mirror in her purse for such situations, but she had too small a purse for that tonight.  
  
Just as she was finishing up, Angel's voice shattered the absolute silence she needed. "You look nice." Cordelia jumped as a result and her hand twitched. She turned and leveled a blistering glare at the intruding vampire. Once she felt she had silently chastised him enough, she turned back to repair whatever damage Angel might have caused.   
  
Seeing the stray line of lipstick that ran up her right cheek she squawked, "Oh! And now I look like The Joker!" She quickly began to dab away the lipstick, "Let's hope I'm still too young and carefree for a heart attack." She turned back to Angel with a frown, "Would it kill you to hum a little tune or something when sneaking up on people?"  
  
With a feeling of triumph Cordelia watched Angel show the decency to look sheepish, "Sorry." He turned back to folder in his hands and scratched the back of his neck, "Cordelia, I'm a little confused here." Crossing the office, he showed her the folder's label, "Why is Mrs. Benson filed under a 'P?'"  
  
Cordelia looked at the folder in mild confusion, "That's an 'F.'"  
  
His eyebrows rose, "Okay, I'm almost sure I'm going to regret this, but why is Mrs. Benson filed under 'F?'"  
  
Cordelia shrugged, "'Cause she's French. Remember what a pain she was?"  
  
Angel sighed and dropped the file on her desk, "I remember she made me want to drink a lot."  
  
She nodded in a sympathetic manner, "That's the French for you."  
  
With a sigh, the vampire walked back into his office mumbling, "Speaking of wanting to drink… can't she just use the alphabet?"  
  
She rolled her eyes at his mutterings as she turned back to the window. She placed a few errant locks of hair then leaned over and inspected her cleavage; she tilted her head for a different angle, even pushing her breasts together before nodding approvingly.   
  
As she was turning away from the window the door came open. Faith breezed in followed by Xander who was inspecting the mail, "Bill… bill… bill…" He smiled, "Hey, it's the check from Mrs. Benson, finally. Was she French?" Xander plopped down in a chair, his feet immediately finding a perch on Cordelia's desk. The mail scattered across her desk save one black-plastic wrapped magazine. Xander held the magazine like a prized trophy, "Ah, Playboy day, my favorite day of the month!"   
  
Faith smirked as she hopped up on the desk next to the young Seer's feet, "Your love of air-brushed blonde beauties and their areola brings a tear to a girl's eye Tiger."  
  
He looked at her as he used his teeth to tear into the plastic. He plucked the magazine out of his mouth and cast the wrapper into the trash with a smile, "Faith, I'm hurt…" His smile turned into a leer, "You know I love brunettes best." The dark haired Slayer's only response was to run her tongue over her upper lip, pucker her lips and kiss the air. Xander merely nodded approvingly, "Nice."  
  
With a scowl, Cordelia broke in on their semi-private conversation, "Oh please. Would you two mind not skanking out on each other on my desk?"  
  
Faith hopped off the desk with a smirk, "What's the matter roomie?"  
  
Cordelia narrowed her eyes at her unwilling roommate, a situation Angel forced upon her when he and Xander had decided to take Faith in. It was also something Faith seemed more then happy to remind the former Cheerleader of whenever it suited her. "Stop calling me that…" Her eyes widened when she noticed Faith's attire, "That's my tank-top… are those my leather pants?"  
  
The younger woman arched an eyebrow, "Well, for the moment this is the only way I can get in your pants…"  
  
Xander never looked up from Miss January as he piped in with; "Hot."  
  
Cordelia sighed in annoyance. "Stop encouraging him Faith, I'd hate to think of what Xander might think of in the shower…"  
  
"Oh don't worry Cor, mostly I think of that time in your pool-house when you did that striptease to…"  
  
"XANDER!"  
  
While Cordelia was trying to see how many shades of red she could turn. Xander smirked triumphantly and Faith laughed, "A lil' pool-house lap dance, now that is very hot!"  
  
Angel re-entered the outer office with a glass of whiskey in his hand, "What the Devil is going on out here?"  
  
Faith smirked, "It seems Queen C here has provided Xand with some visions of the masturbatory kind."  
  
As Angel turned to Cordelia with shock on his face, Wesley thankfully chose that moment to come into the office proudly holding a hand-axe, "Hello all."  
  
Cordelia smiled in an overly-bright fashion, "Wes! It's good to see you!"  
  
Wesley flushed slightly under the warm reception, he stammered for a moment then said, "I was just in the neighborhood on patrol with my new Bavarian Fighting Axe," He held the weapon up for emphasis, "When I thought, 'Perhaps Xander's had a vision and evil is afoot!'"  
  
Xander looked up from the centerfold, "Sorry Wes, no evil tonight." Faith took the opportunity to pluck the magazine rudely from his hand, "Hey! Who pays for the subscription around here?" Her only reply was a wicked smile as she settled down into Cordelia's chair.  
  
The former Watcher deflated slightly, "Ah… Well, I brought Word Puzzle 3-D."  
  
Cordelia smiled, "Wes, some of us aren't in our eighties."  
  
Reaching now, he plucked a box from his bag, "I also brought Magic. If anyone has the nerve to take me on!"  
  
Xander perked up from pouting over his lost Playboy, "Really?"  
  
Faith scowled at him over her magazine, "Playing Magic is very not sexy Tiger." Xander waved at her dismissively before rounding the desk to look at the magazine over her shoulder.  
  
Cordelia plucked her handbag from her desk, "Sorry Wes, you'll have to play you're weird card games without me. I'm going out."  
  
Hanging up his bag on the coat rack in the corner, Wesley said, "Well if your idea of fun is shaking your 'booty' at the latest hot spot, you can call me…" The door opened and two young ladies stepped through the door. One was blonde with blue eyes; the other was dark-skinned with short hair. Both of them were dressed in club gear similar to Cordelia's outfit. "Horribly jealous."  
  
The dark skinned woman smiled flirtatiously at Wesley, "Hi, I'm Sarina, nice axe."  
  
Wesley turned pink and stammered for the second time that evening, "Oh, uh… This old thing…" In an effort to appear calm and cool, Wesley swung the axe and accidentally embedded it into the wall behind him.  
  
Cordelia scowled at him, "Wesley…"  
  
Sarina's eyebrows rose as she turned to Cordelia, "Tick-tock Cor." She nodded to her companion, "Emily told me Wilson practically had to have phone-sex with the manager to get us into Lounge La Brea."  
  
Angel took another sip of his drink, "Wilson?"  
  
Emily folded her arms, "Christopher."  
  
The vampire tilted his head in confusion, "Christopher Wilson?"  
  
With a roll of the eyes, Sarina huffed out, "Wilson Christopher."  
  
Xander looked up as Faith rotated the magazine for a better angle, "The guy who sang the theme to Arthur? He's like fifty, isn't he?"  
  
Wesley shook his head, "No Xander, Wilson Christopher is the ethno-archeologist from Brandies."  
  
Sarina smiled at him in her earlier flirtatious manner, "Your Hugh Grant thing is starting to work for me." This time the Englishman turned red.  
  
Angel smirked, "Christopher Cross sang the theme to Arthur."  
  
Emily took her turn to roll her eyes, "Wilson Christopher is the hot new photographer who's been seeing Cordelia for like three weeks now. Where have you guys been?"  
  
Xander matched Angel's smirk, "The Mouth of Hell?" Faith and Angel stifled laughter.  
  
Angel pulled Cordelia aside, "So, you're seeing someone, why haven't you brought him by?"  
  
Cordelia's left eyebrow rose, "Why so Xander and Faith can pick on him, while you get all creepy overprotective big-brother and interrogate him?"  
  
Emily looked him over with a wicked grin, "Break out the hand-cuffs and you can interrogate me anytime."  
  
Xander put his hands to his temples, "Guys…" He dropped to the floor.  
  
Angel, Cordelia, Faith and Wesley all quickly began to cover for Xander's vision. Faith turned her chair and held out her boot, "Xand, could you be a sweetheart and get that knot out of my bootlace? I just got a manicure…"  
  
Meanwhile, Wesley put his arm around Sarina, "So, would you like to have dinner this weekend?"  
  
Angel smiled at Cordelia, "You better get going if you want to meet with this Wilson guy."  
  
Cordelia grabbed her purse and quickly ushered Emily and Sarina out of the office, "Angel's right, let's go."  
  
Just as Angel and Wesley began to relax, Sarina popped her head back in. "Hey Wesley, Cordy has my number, give me a call, okay?" With a wink she trotted to catch up to her friends.  
  
With sudden confidence, the former Watcher turned to his employer with a smug expression, "Well, I do believe Cordelia's friend is quite charming."  
  
A shaky hand appeared from behind Cordelia's desk, Faith leered down at the hidden member of Angel Investigations, "Hey Xand, since you're down there already…"  
  
Xander's head emerged from behind the desk, "Untie your bootlace? How whipped do you think I am?"  
  
Angel helped Xander to his feet, "What did you see?"  
  
Xander steadied himself against the desk and shook his head, "Um… a big clawed scaly hand coming out of an egg…" He grabbed a pen and pad and wrote an address down "It's going to hatch tonight and I get the feeling it'll be really deadly."  
  
Rubbing her hands briskly, the Slayer jumped up, "Alright! Let's cowboy up!"  
  
Xander followed her to the weapons closet, while Wesley tried to pry his axe from the wall. Faith grabbed a broadsword which she tossed to Angel before taking a battle-axe for herself. Xander grabbed a cross-bow before he, Faith and Angel exited out of the front door. They turned back to Wesley just in time to see the axe come loose causing him to fall down. Angel shook his head, "Wes, quit fooling around."  
  
Jumping up quickly, he trotted out of the office after them. "Sorry about that."  
  
***  
  
Xander staggered through the splintered remnants of 25 Cabrillo's front door. He looked at the destroyed crossbow in his hands and cast the now useless weapon aside and flopped down on the porch.   
  
Faith followed him through the doorway trying to wipe the orange gore off her coat and pants. "Who knew a thing barely three feet tall could spew up that much blood and guts?" Xander nodded tiredly. She looked at him then touched her cheek, "You got some guts on your cheek."  
  
He sighed then squirmed slightly, "Faith, I have guts in my shorts right now."  
  
Wesley exited the house next, covered nearly head to toe in the orange gore that was minutes before a newly hatched demon. "I believe this sport's coat is ruined."  
  
Angel's shout and the sounds of breaking furniture brought their attention to the house, "STAY DEAD!" The vampire emerged from the house sheathing his sword. He then noticed a small bit of orange on his sleeve, "Oh Christ! I just got this coat." His remark earned a trio of scowls and glares. "Sorry."  
  
Xander stood up shakily, "Two Questions: First, what the Hell was that thing? And Two, How on Earth, when you were right in the middle of that fight, did you avoid all the crap that thing was made of?"  
  
The vampire smiled in a sheepish manner, "Luck?"  
  
Faith rolled her eyes, "Must be nice to be a Champion."  
  
Wesley gave up on his attempt to clean the demon off and sat down on the porch as well, "That, my friends, was an infant Tahval demon."  
  
Shaking her head, Faith dropped her axe on the ground and ran her now free hands through her hair only to realize she had spread demon through it and sighed angrily, "I'd hate to see its parents if they fight like that as infants." She stood up, "I need a shower and a pizza." Turning towards Xander, she found him trying not to look so uncomfortable. "Wanna go Dutch on a pepperoni mushroom and banana pepper pizza Tiger?"  
  
Xander jumped up, "Only if we get breadsticks too."  
  
The Slayer nodded before offering her elbow to the Seer, which he took and after retrieving her axe the pair started down the sidewalk ignoring the gaping stares that only two people covered in dead demon and carrying melee weapons could create. "Great, we'll go to your apartment and we can share a shower, I'll wash your back and you can wash mine."  
  
Not to be outdone in flirtation, Xander replied with "Only if I can wash your front too." Faith's laughter filled the night air.  
  
Wesley watched them depart with a shake of his head, "Those two seem rather comfortable with each other."  
  
Angel shrugged as he picked up Xander's discarded crossbow, "It's just a game Wes. They're both out to shock and embarrass the other." With an annoyed snort he threw the weapon into the house.  
  
Wesley stood up and picked up his new hand axe, "Sometimes those three worry me." Turning to his employer he swung the weapon onto his shoulder.  
  
The vampire stepped off the porch and held his arm out, letting his friend know he was ready to depart. After they started down the sidewalk in the same general directions their companions had left, Angel continued their conversation, "How so?"  
  
Wesley shrugged slightly, "It just seems they take their duty too lightly. That was always a source of annoyance for me last year."  
  
Angel had to laugh; he had remembered how annoying Wesley was to Buffy and the others last year. However in the two months he'd been working with Angel Investigations, they'd found another side to Wesley. Instead of the foppish bookworm the vampire was convinced Wesley was, there was a rather competent man who merely needed to put down the books he hid behind. It also didn't hurt that Faith Xander and Cordelia were pulling the stick out of his ass. However, for all of Wesley's progress into a person Angel might actually be able to call friend, he had a long way to go as he just proved; "Wes, not one of them is older than nineteen, they deserve time to be a little free-spirited."  
  
They stopped in front of Angel's car, "Angel, Xander is your Seer, Faith is a Slayer, and while Cordelia and I are not bound to this fight by Super-natural abilities or duties we are warriors in the fight against the Darkness. We have little time for being free-spirited and flirtatious or dancing the night away with doxies…"  
  
Angel grinned slightly, "I think Sarina liked you Wes."  
  
Wesley immediately began to backtrack on his last statement, "By doxy, I hope you don't think I meant sexually promiscuous. You don't think my sticking the axe in the wall put her off?"  
  
Angel opened his trunk and dropped his sword in there, while Wesley placed his axe and sports jacket in the trunk with a little more care. "No, it was charming." Wesley nodded as Angel closed the trunk, "C'mon Wes, let's go get a pint, maybe play some darts. Doyle and I found a great Irish pub down the street run by a Warlock."  
  
The Englishman smiled at the notion, then frowned "What about our, rather my… unkempt appearance? Will it worry them?"  
  
Angel shook his head as he got in the car. He reached into the back seat and grabbed a large towel, which he unrolled onto passenger seat before Wesley got in. "No, it'll just add mystery."  
  
***  
  
The frantic pounding on Xander's door woke him from a sound sleep. He found his face buried in the cushions of his couch and the TV filled with static. He pushed off the couch and stumbled in the darkness of his apartment being audibly bombarded the entire time by the pounding on his door. "Hang on. Hang on! I'm coming!" His assurances did little to calm his visitor. He reached for the door and yanked it open angrily as he said, "Keep your pants on…" His anger quickly extinguished at the sight of Cordelia's wild eyes. "Cor?" Any further conversation died when Cordelia practically attacked his mouth with her lips. They staggered backwards into his apartment, pausing only long enough to kick the door closed.  
  
With a passion as frantic as her door pounding, Cordelia forcefully pushed Xander into his bedroom and then down onto the bed. Xander looked at her as she stripped in nearly record time, "Cordelia, what the Hell!?"  
  
Once she had removed all her clothing, she jumped on top of him and put a finger to his lips, "Xander. Shut up."  
  
She descended upon him again, and after a few moments of making out which put all of her previous broom closet romps to shame, Xander managed to pry her off his mouth again. "What is going on?"  
  
Seeing she wasn't going to shut him up, she began to suck on his neck. Between licking, kissing and biting his pulse point, she managed to mumble, "Take your pants off."  
  
"Cordelia!"  
  
She pulled away, grasped his hands in her and placed them atop her breasts, "Xander. Take your pants off!" He could offer no further protest.  
  
***  
  
Xander woke with a start when his alarm began its obnoxious war cry. He found himself laying across the bed on his back, his feet and head dangling over the sides and his blankets were tangled around him. He groped around, half-blind looking for the animal which last night had disguised herself as Cordelia Chase.  
  
When he didn't find her by touch, he cracked his eyes and looked around. Other than the lamp they had kicked off the night-stand, he found no evidence that Cordelia had ever been there. "Cordelia?" When he received no answer, he cast the blankets aside and was greeted with a sight he'd never thought he'd see. All he could do was say, "Fu-"  
  
***  
  
"Fudge?"  
  
Angel looked up from his copy of Lord of the Rings at Cordelia with mild curiosity. She had breezed in the door this morning with a bag from a fudge shop down the street, two hours late. She seemed much more relaxed then yesterday. If he didn't know better, he'd think Cordelia's date had gone better then he wanted to think about. "No thanks."  
  
Cordelia shrugged and returned to her treat, "Suit yourself."  
  
Faith entered his office and perched herself on the back of his couch, "So how was the sex last night Cordy? Was Wilson Christopher any good?"  
  
Angel groaned, he didn't want to hear about Cordelia's or anyone's sex life for that matter. Cordelia shook her head nervously, "Oh, well… Wilson and I didn't…"  
  
Faith smirked, "C'mon Queen C. You didn't come home last night; you come in here with chocolate and a pair of monster hickies," She pointed to marks, one on Cordelia's neck, the other on her chest just above the waistline of her pants, "…this morning and expect me to believe that you and him didn't beat up the old headboard last night."  
  
Cordelia shook her head, "No, it didn't work out."  
  
Faith laughed, "Fine, if it wasn't Wilson, who sent you on a trip to happy-town?"  
  
"Cordelia!" Xander's voice shook all three from their conversation; they turned to find Xander standing in the doorway. That was when all normality left the room, Faith eyebrows jumped up her forehead, Angel's eyes widened and Cordelia's jaw slackened. Xander stood in the doorway dressed in sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt which did nothing to hide the strangest thing that any of them had ever seen. Xander's stomach was swollen as though he were eight months pregnant; he chose to break the silence with a question that was like a powder keg within the office. "What the Hell did you do to me?"  
  
***  
  
In the last two hours, Angel's office had taken on a sense of tension and worry due to two of its occupants; namely Xander who was pacing and casting angry glances at Cordelia who sat on the couch, her knees pulled under her chin. Meanwhile, Wesley and Angel poured over every book they had to try and find the cause of "The Unpleasantness" as Wesley referred Xander's situation.  
  
However, some people in this world had no care for either tact or tension. Until that moment the Ensouled Vampire known to those close to him as Angel had held out hope that he only had the bad fortune to know one of these people. Faith's growing smirk as she watched Xander pace was a prelude to her showing him how wrong he was. "Xand, why don't you sit down?"  
  
Xander paused in his pacing long enough to cast a wary look at the smirking younger woman, "Why?" He held his arms out so that his swollen abdomen was in full view. "This is why!"  
  
Faith stood up and crossed the room, "I'm just saying, someone in your condition should be conserving your strength," She paused and gently placed a hand on his stomach, "You don't want to upset Junior." With an angry snort, he knocked her hand away and resumed his pacing. "What? Is it hormone problems?"  
  
Wesley's eyes widened and he stood out of his chair. "Oh dear…" The others turned to him and watched as the color began to drain from his cheeks while he cast worried glances at Cordelia and Xander. "Oh dear."  
  
With great difficulty, Xander managed to sit down on the couch next to Cordelia, "I've seen that look on Giles…"  
  
Cordelia ran a hand through her hair, "This is never good."  
  
Wesley hand his text to Angel who began to read over what he'd just discovered as he began to explain to the others. "It seems Xander has been impregnated, well infected would be a better term, by a succubus."  
  
Faith stopped laughing to herself long enough to look up, "Hold on for a second English. Do you mean man killing female sex-demons?"  
  
Cordelia looked at the former Watcher incredulously, "Are you calling me a demon?"  
  
Wesley shook his head, "No Cordelia, what I'm saying is that somehow through your… ah… sexual… contact… with Xander that you infected him and that right now he has a fetal succubus growing in him."  
  
Xander watched Angel hand the text over to Faith who began reading, he turned back to Wesley. "Wes, I saw a bad movie with a succubus once, I thought they killed men during sex, kinda like vampires. How the Hell did Cordelia infect me with a succubus?"  
  
"Well, Cordelia's been infected herself somehow, Cordelia, did anyone make contact with your throat last night?"  
  
Cordelia shrugged, "I mean Wilson did, but he's a guy."  
  
"Hmm, well somehow you had to have been exposed to the creature's pheromone, that's how it infects you. It makes contact with a woman's throat, transfer pheromones through the skin, making the woman a carrier so to speak. In turn, she will feel an uncontrollable rise in…" He looked down and cleared his throat uncomfortably, "Amorous emotions and will seek out males for… well…" He trailed off and reddened considerably.  
  
Angel stood up and continued for Wesley, "Basically, Xander's carrying one of those things around, and Cordelia is a carrier. We need to find the source and find it now or otherwise, Cordelia will continue to seek out and infect Los Angeles' male population, and by morning Xander will… well…"  
  
When Angel trailed off as well, Xander became incredibly worried, "I'll what? What's going to happen to me?"  
  
Faith stood up and dropped the book into Xander's hands, "Did you ever see 'Alien' Xand?"  
  
Looking down, the Seer saw a drawing of a male corpse which looked like it had exploded. "Oh crap."  
  
Cordelia jumped up suddenly, "Oh my God!" She ran out of Angel's office. The others watched her rifle through her purse, followed by her desk. She produced a bottle and ran into the office holding it. "Wilson gave me this perfume last night, he asked me to put it on. Then like ten minutes later he tried to get all over me. I just thought he was a creep."  
  
"Tell me Cor. How does Wilson infecting you with a demon mojo which is going to have us picking my spleen out of the carpet *not* make him a creep?"  
  
Angel scowled at Xander and interrupted Cordelia's coming response, "Not now."  
  
Wesley took the bottle carefully and began to inspect it, "Angel is correct. We need to find the demon. The only way to save Xander's life, and save Cordelia's future husband…" He tried to ignore Faith's snigger, "Is to kill it."  
  
The vampire nodded while grabbing his coat, "Cordelia, I need to know where to find him. I need to know now."  
  
***  
  
Wilson Christopher found himself sailing across VIP firing range of the Los Angelus Gun Club before he crashed through the safety window out into the hall. He bounced twice before skidding three feet across the hardwood floor. With a groan and the sensation of shards of glass digging into his body he rolled onto his back.  
  
Before he could even think of sitting up, the man who took down six of his friends, even after taking two bullets to the chest, and had spent the last five minutes giving his doctor many opportunities to make money was standing over him. In a flash, his attacker grabbed his right wrist and stepped on his chest. He yanked hard and Wilson felt something in his shoulder tear, he cried out with the searing pain he felt. The unknown man shook his head and made a hiss of false-sympathy, "Gee Wilson; that sounded a lot like a torn rotator cuff. Tell me where you got that Perfume."  
  
Wilson ground his teeth against the pain, "I don't know." With a sharp twist, Wilson felt the bones in his wrist give. "Oh GOD!"  
  
"Three bones Wilson, you have a lil' more than two hundred to go."  
  
Tears streamed down his cheeks, "I swear I don't know anything. I SWEAR!" The attacker squeezed his hand and Wilson let out a strangled sob when three of his fingers broke.  
  
"I don't think you understand how serious I am about this, so let me explain again. Because of that perfume, two of my friends are in trouble. One has a baby succubus in his chest the other will spend the rest of her life killing every man she sleeps with. My friends are very important to me." Wilson cried openly while the man emphasized the word "very" with another twist which broke the bones in his forearm. "What's it going to be Wilson, just to be fair, I should tell you I can make this much more painful, I mean if you're crying over a broken wrist and forearm, imagine what will happen when I take a set of car keys to Big Jim and the Twins?"  
  
"OKAY! I got it from this shop in Chinatown, the woman said it was an aphrodisiac, she said Cordelia wouldn't be able to keep her hands off me and that the sex would be the best I would ever have again. Then Cordelia's eyes got all glassy and she said something about some guy named Xander…" The man dug his heel into Wilson's chest, cracking ribs as he did so, "GOD PLEASE STOP!"  
  
"Wilson, you are wasting my time. I need an address."  
  
"2163 Ninth Avenue! Please God…" Before Wilson could continue blubbering, the pressure ebbed and his attacker was gone.  
  
***  
  
Wesley sat in the driver's seat of Angel's convertible, waiting for Angel patiently in the parking garage. Faith was riding shotgun, filing her nails, he heard the young woman mumble, "'Five minutes…' That was like half an hour ago."  
  
Wesley nodded, "He does seem to be taking an unusual amount of time, do you think he ran into trouble?"  
  
Faith shrugged, "Probably, that's why he didn't bring us; he gets off on it you know?"  
  
"On what?"  
  
The young woman smiled a wistful smile as she thought of the carnage Angel was no doubt bringing on the Gun Club, "On the violence, on playing Super-hero. Especially when Cordy's the damsel in distress, he loves going back to her after beating up the bad guys." She turned and thrust her nail file into Wesley's chest to emphasize her point, ignoring his grunt of slight discomfort, "Plus, he's got some issues over all this. Think about it, he's been crushing on Cor for months, then her Ex comes into town, with Visions no less, and they flirt shamelessly. Then when struck with demonic panty peeler, where does Miss Chase go? To the X-man, that's gotta eat at him a little." She shrank back into her seat, hugging herself slightly, "Trust me, a situation like that can mess with someone's head."  
  
Wesley watched her for a moment, for the first time since she arrived; he finally saw past her defenses, he saw the woman Angel and Xander seemed so desperate to protect. He hadn't understood Angel and Xander when she arrived in town. After all, since coming out of a coma, Faith had stolen Buffy's body and tried to destroy the lives of all their friends in Sunnydale. Then upon coming to LA, she tried to assassinate Angel, beat up Cordelia and himself then tortured Xander. She broke down when Angel confronted her, then he and Xander took her in, even defending her when Buffy came looking for the younger Slayer.  
  
He just couldn't understand why when she'd tried to kill both of them on more then one occasion that they were so intent on protecting and helping her. Seeing Faith with her defenses down, even just a bit, Wesley understood. He saw a young woman who had endured untold hardships and betrayals. His research of Angelus had led him to believe that Angel had endured what would be considered today an abusive childhood, and according to Giles, much the same had been Xander's fate as a child.  
  
They identified with Faith's pain and seemed to be willing to do anything to ease it. He looked forward and still found no sign of Angel's return, turning back to Faith he decided to break the silence, "Faith, did what happen between Cordelia and Xander upset you somehow?"  
  
The young woman snorted, "Why would it? It's not like I have a leash on the boy-toy. Hell, we only did it once. If he and the Cheerleader want to bang, I can't stop him."  
  
"That's not what I asked."  
  
She screwed her eyes shut and ground her teeth for a moment, "What do you want me to say Wes? Do you want me to say that I dig Xander? Fine! It wasn't just playful flirting okay! He's been helping me, even after what I did to him. That kind of compassion is hard to ignore. So yes, I can completely relate to Angel's annoyance at Cordy and Xander, 'cause my first instinct this morning was to rip her hair out and shove it down her throat. Right now I hate her more then I've ever hated anyone, even Red, and if Xander dies, I just might make sure Cordelia doesn't have to worry about killing her next sex partner 'cause I'll probably kill her!" Wesley reached a comforting hand tentatively for Faith's shoulder which she shrugged away, "Save it English!"  
  
Angel chose that moment to return, "2163 Ninth Avenue. A woman sold him the perfume as an aphrodisiac." He got into the back seat.  
  
Wesley turned around, "So he didn't know what it would do?" Angel shook his head and Wesley noticed a line of blood trickling down the side of his mouth. "Angel. Did you…?" He pointed at the blood.  
  
Angel reached up and touched his lip, he inspected his finger and smiled sheepishly, "Oh no, this is mine. His buddies jumped me." The ambulance pulled in and the paramedics jumped out. Wesley watched a smirk spread slowly across Angel's lips, "Just 'cause I didn't drink, doesn't mean I didn't have fun. They shot me, ruined one of my favorite shirts. He had it coming." He grabbed the tarp, "Let's go Wes." He pulled the tarp over him and Wesley started the vehicle before pulling out of the garage.  
  
***  
  
Cordelia had watched Xander from beneath her lashes since the others left, not having the courage to let herself look him in the eye. He seemed entirely engrossed in some imagined spot on the wall. He looked absolutely miserable, which she supposed he had every right to after all, if Angel didn't save the day, Xander would spread his horizons, all over the office. "I'm sor-"  
  
Xander's gaze never left the wall, "Save it." His scowl wavered and she watched his face turn pale and sweat bead at his hairline.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"It moved." He ran a hand over his face, "Angel better hurry up and save the day." He groaned as he sank back into the couch.  
  
"Xander, for what it's worth…"  
  
His eyes snapped open and captured her gaze into a hold tight enough to crush concrete, "Stop. Okay! Just stop. Your apologies aren't worth jack unless I get this thing out of me! So save it Cor! Save it until I have more than hours to live." He pressed his palms into his eyes, "I swear Cordelia if I get out of this, I'm going to learn how to say no to you." He turned to her with a morbid grin. "Someone has to."  
  
Cordelia rolled her eyes and allowed herself to laugh for the first time since he entered the office this morning.  
  
***  
  
Bells sounded as Angel stepped into the herbal shop flanked by Faith and Wesley. He strode down the stops inspecting items on displays placed around. He smiled and picked up a box containing a ring, "I haven't seen a ring like this since I ran into that Chinese Slayer in Moscow… Boy she was a wild fight." His smile faded as he recalled the run-in Angelus had with the young Chinese girl.  
  
When he looked up, he found Faith and Wesley regarding him uncomfortably. Faith arched an eyebrow at him, "Angel, I'm not especially fond of your jaunts down Angelus' memory lane."  
  
The vampire nodded, "Point taken."  
  
The rustling of beads drew their attention to the back room, where a short white haired woman with slight hints of red stepped behind the counter. "May I help you?"  
  
Wesley crossed the room, "We were looking for the woman who runs this establishment."  
  
She smiled sweetly, "That would be me dear."  
  
He looked at her with a hint of confusion, "Forgive me, I suppose I expected…"  
  
"Expected some elderly Asian woman? I get that a lot."  
  
Wesley laughed, "Quite." Reaching into his coat, he produced the bottle of perfume Wilson gave to Cordelia, "A friend of mine received this perfume from a date. He said he purchased it here, we need to know where you acquired it from, it's incredibly important."  
  
The woman looked the bottle over, "I'm afraid I can't help you dear."  
  
Angel narrowed his eyes at her as he walked towards the counter, "Why not?"  
  
She smiled, this time lacking any hint of warmth and sweetness. "I think you know why."  
  
The vampire looked her over, "I have some suspicions. But my friends say I'm a little dense. Why don't you spell it out for me?"  
  
She gave him a long appraising glance, "You're something new, a vampire with a soul; traveling with a Slayer no less. If this were any more fantastic, it would make quite a story, maybe even a television series or two." She stepped slowly around the counter, "I won't tell you where I got the perfume, because it's not a perfume."  
  
Wesley stepped around Angel, "We knew that already. It's pheromone from a succubus, a rather industrious succubus I wager. You sell it as an aphrodisiac and make money off the poor and unfortunate young men who cross your path. It doesn't concern you that you are sending innocent men and women to horribly gruesome fates at all, does it?"  
  
"Quite the contrary, I enjoy it. See, I've been doing it for years, dooming women to impregnate vile males and kill them. But, times have changed; killing men by procreating doesn't pay the bills you know. I just decided to make money while I procreate. Killing horny little bastard men is just the icing on the cake." The trio watched as the old woman's skin began to turn a sickly grey and her fingernails began to extend and become pointed. "Now, I guess I'll just have to kill you three."  
  
Angel sighed, "Why do they always want to resort to violence?" He charged forward with Wesley and Faith quickly jumping into the fray as well.  
  
***  
  
Cordelia handed Xander a glass of water, "Maybe this will settle your stomach Xander."  
  
Xander's lips twitched with a hint of a grateful smile, "Thanks Cor, but it's not my stomach I'm worried about." She watched as his hands began to shake as the glass approached his lips. He took a sip then his face twisted in agony. The glass slid from his fingers and shattered on the floor. He slid off the couch and crawled towards the bathroom, "Cordelia. Get an axe."  
  
"Xander, I don't want to kill you!"  
  
Xander groaned, "You'll have to kill that thing, Wesley said they're lethal from birth, so swing for its head." He slumped against the floor then rolled on to his side and curled into the fetal position. "Though killing me might not be such a bad idea…"  
  
***  
  
Wesley landed in a bruised heap in the back of the herbal shop. He pushed himself onto his hands and knees and got up on wobbly legs. The fight with the succubus was something of a stand-still as they didn't have the common sense and foresight to bring weapons; which meant they had no real way to finish it off. He scanned the store and smiled when he saw the fire hose and axe which was housed next to it. He ran over to the axe, he grabbed a stool along the way and smashed in the glass. He pulled out the axe and turned back to the fight.  
  
Angel blocked a swipe from one of the succubus' clawed hand and leveled a kick to her stomach. Faith delivered a low kick which buckled the creature's knee and staggered her. Angel grabbed her by the hair and back and launched her headfirst into the glass display counter. He then picked up the cash register and brought it down on her back, ushering a howl of pain out of her. Wesley then called out, "Angel. Here."   
  
As Angel looked up, the Englishman tossed the axe to the vampire. The succubus, meanwhile, was pulling herself out of the shattered remnants of her display counter. She stood up straight just in time for Angel to catch the axe and swing it in one motion, lopping the creature's head off easily; spattering its blue-green blood across the back wall and coating Wesley in gore for the second in as many nights, though not nearly as bad as the Tahval demon the night before.  
  
There was a tense silence as Faith and Angel had no idea how the former-Watcher would react, finally he pulled out a handkerchief and removed his glasses then began to clean his glasses vigorously, "Well, at least it's not orange this time."  
  
Angel's eyes shined with restrained laughter, while Faith nodded, "Oh yeah English, because blue-green is definitely more your color."  
  
Wesley responded with a rather improper snort, "Yes. Quite."  
  
***  
  
Xander's eyes snapped open and the haze of pain cleared from his vision, he had felt that thing die just then. Angel must have killed it, he sat up slowly. "Angel must have killed it! God bless that vampire! He killed it!" He jumped up and pumped his fists in the air while whooping for joy. Cordelia dropped her axe and joined in on his celebration. That is, until he turned green, "I'm gonna be sick!" He ran off into the bathroom.   
  
After a moment, Cordelia heard Xander retching in the bathroom. Her face scrunched up in disgust, "Eww! Xander some courtesy noises please!" She rolled her eyes, "Some people are just thoughtless."  
  
***  
  
The office of Angel Investigations had been unusually quiet for the last two days. The absence of Xander Harris could have that affect after all. Angel felt a grin tug at his lips as he read of the last defense of Helm's Deep, he'd been able to actually read instead of enduring Xander and Cordelia bicker slash flirt with each other, while Faith and he traded suggestive comments. Not that two months hadn't given the vampire an appreciation for Xander, he now considered his Seer part of his family, but he was still just as annoying as he had been Sunnydale.  
  
After all, since Xander had shown up with the visions from the PTB two months ago, he hadn't had a chance to finish Tolkien's Epic. It didn't matter that he'd read it countless times before, great books were meant to be enjoyed again and again. Now he was lucky to get in a chapter a night. There was too much distraction these days. The front door burst open and Cordelia and Faith entered as they bickered, "Two distractions, right on cue."  
  
"Faith, I am not going to tell you again. Stop asking about that time in the pool house!"  
  
Angel scowled into his book, he wasn't exactly happy with Cordelia. She might have been under the influence of a demon, but deep down, his ego bristled that she had chosen Xander over him. The night before he spoke at length about his feelings concerning Cordelia and Xander with Wesley, he had helped Angel deal with his growing feelings for Cordelia, and beat down his ego enough to realize that she would have issues of her own concerning the night with Xander. Adding his own issues to Cordelia's trouble would only complicate things worse.   
  
The worst revelation he had made was that now he knew what Xander must have felt when he had slept with Buffy two years ago. "It must just eat you up that I got there first," Angelus had said to him in the Hospital, now those words stung him.  
  
His thoughts were interrupted by his novel being rudely plucked from his grasp and Cordelia yelling in his ear, "ANGEL!"  
  
"What?"  
  
The young woman sighed as though the weight of the World rested solely upon her shoulders. "I asked if you think Xander will be coming into work today?" Angel shrugged in a non-committal fashion, which caused her to growl in anger and frustration, "This is so like him," she paced the office, "'Ooo, I'm Xander, I had a demon growing inside so I'm taking time off.' Jeez, talk about selfish. I think he just did this to avoid listening to Wesley go on and on about Sarina. Just because she agreed to go to that stupid ballet with him he doesn't have to be all Big Watcher on Campus."  
  
Faith smiled in an overly-sweet fashion at Cordelia, "I'm sure he was avoiding someone, but I think it was you. Maybe he's afraid you'll try to jump him again and plant another demon in his stomach." Angel's eyebrows rose as Faith laid the gauntlet down. Since the other night he had noticed that Faith's playful teasing of the older girl had taken on an icy tone. He decided to talk to the young woman if the opportunity arose.  
  
That opportunity passed as Xander walked through the front door with a dozen donuts and a small cooler. "Hey, hey, hey, it's Vision Boy to the rescue with pastries and…" He reached into the cooler and pulled out a bag of blood, "Fresh AB positive for the Boss-Man." He handed Angel the bag, and then a mug. "Drink up Angel, you're a growing Vampire."  
  
Angel took the bag but instead of tearing into it, he stood and put the bag in a cooler he kept in his office. "Thanks Xander."  
  
Xander nodded, "Listen Angel, Faith. Thanks for pulling my butt out of the fryer."  
  
Angel waved him off while Faith leered, "Such a lovely butt too boy-toy, I couldn't let it go to waste."  
  
Xander smirked before sitting down, "I've learned some things too. Lesson one; never answer frantic pounding on my door in the middle of the night. No matter how much fun they bring with them. Two; women have a really hard job with the pregnancy. And three: Sex can only lead to evil things."  
  
Angel nodded, "You don't have to tell me twice."  
  
Xander chuckled then continued, "But the most important lesson is this: I have friends who love me, even when they can't stand me and will help me when I need it. Thank you guys, it's good to know I'm not alone."  
  
Faith smiled, "Aww Xander. C'mere." She pulled the Seer into a hug and copped a quick feel, "Love that butt."  
  
Angel laughed, "Despite Faith destroying that moment, I just want to say Xander; you guys are family. Besides, we'd all feel horrible if we destroyed Cordelia's social life."  
  
Cordelia smiled, "You're damned right you'd feel horrible! I'd make sure of it."  
  
They fell into a more comfortable silence for a while, until Xander's eyes lit, "I almost forgot, yesterday I won two tickets to a concert tonight; Queens of the Stone Age at the Metal Shop."  
  
Cordelia and Faith sat forward and spoke simultaneously, "I'd love to go." The pair then exchanged glares which could start an apocalypse.  
  
Xander pulled the tickets out of his jacket pocket, "Actually I was going to ask if Dead-Boy wanted to go."  
  
Angel looked up from the book he had started reading with shock, "Me?"  
  
Xander nodded, "Yeah, I figured you might enjoy a night of Drug-Metal and maybe a couple of pints afterwards. What do you say Angel?"  
  
The vampire shrugged then set his book down before getting to his feet. "Sure. Let me grab my coat." He pulled a black trench off his coat rack and followed Xander out the front office, "So this Drug-Metal stuff, do you have to take drugs to listen?"  
  
Xander laughed, "No, it's just a title; it doesn't make it true, like when you call George Clooney an actor." Xander and Angel left the office.  
  
Cordelia and Faith watched the door the two departed through in stunned silence. Finally, Cordelia sunk into her chair and turned to the Slayer, "You don't think I scared Xander off women, do you?"  
  
Faith just sighed and sagged into the couch, she then mumbled; "I hope not."  
  
--End-- 


	3. The Waning Twilight

The Waning Twilight  
An Angel: The Series Fanfiction Story  
Author: Jason Thompson  
Pilamsega@yahoo.com  
February 20, 2003  
  
Disclaimer:Once upon a time there was a guy he wrote a story with characters and settings he didn't own, but he put a disclaimer on his story and that made it a little less illegal. BTVS and Angel are owned by Joss, Fox, Mutant Enemy, the UPN and the WB. I don't own anything except the situation characters are in.   
  
Category:AU Cordelia/Xander, Faith/Xander, Angel/Cordelia, Angel/Xander with a touch of Buffy/Angel and Wesley/Sarina (Cordelia's friend from Expecting)  
  
Spoilers:Buffy Seasons 1 through 3; primarily, Prophecy Girl, The Fluke Arc, and The Zeppo. Angel Season 1 through Hero also minor for Sanctuary, Somnambulist and Blind Date   
  
Warnings:  
  
Summary:As Wesley tries to decipher the Prophecies of Aberjian, Wolfram and Hart conspire to take Angel out for good.   
  
Rating:  
  
Distribution:Ask First.   
  
Notes:This is the Follow-up to Dysfunction and In the Family Way, it may be necessary to read those stories first.  
  
Dedication:Dedicated to the usual suspects; Bri, Mary, Duchess, Dale, Blaire, Stone Cold, Ice Wing, Arashi, Aslan, Vega, Tony D, Jen Zimmer, Louise, Sairs, and Queen Angel who have allowed me to bounce my ideas off them, and Krac, cause she has the evil bunny slippers.  
  
The Waning Twilight  
  
Previously on Angel:  
  
Kate locked eyes with Angel while he stood outside her threshold, "Angelus, A particularly brutal bastard by all accounts."  
  
***  
  
Buffy watched Xander lead Faith down into Angel's apartment with a blanket over her shoulders, she turned to Angel; "I have someone in my life now… That I love…I trust him. I know him."  
  
Angel spun on her with anger flaring in his eyes; "That's great. It's nice. You moved on, I can't. You found someone new. I'm not allowed to, remember? I see you again it cuts me up inside and the person I share that with is me! You don't know me anymore. So don't come down here with your great new life and expect me to do things your way. Go home!"  
  
***  
  
Cordelia pulled away, grasped his hands in hers and placed them atop her breasts, "Xander. Take your pants off!" He could offer no further protest.  
  
***  
  
Faith screwed her eyes shut and ground her teeth for a moment, "What do you want me to say Wes? Do you want me to say that I dig Xander? Fine!"  
  
***  
  
Wesley removed the metal tube from Angel's briefcase; "Angel, what's this?"  
  
Angel looked at it carefully; "I'm not sure."  
  
***  
  
Wesley spoke as Angel looked at the scrolls, "The prophecies of Aberjian." He leaned forward; "There is an entire passage… about you."  
  
***  
And Now…  
***  
  
Angel frowned when Wesley bumped him, nearly knocking his feet off the desk and distracting him from "The Old Man and the Sea." Wesley at least had the decency to look embarrassed when the vampire scowled at him in an annoyed fashion. He picked up a magnifying glass and inspected the scroll and the book he had pulled off the shelf. As he scanned the scroll, he began to mumble to himself; "Shanshu… Shanshu… Or maybe it's 'shushan?'" He looked at the book in his hand once more, then picked up a pencil and made a notation on a legal pad next to the scrolls.  
  
Faith looked up from the apple she was sectioning to watch Wesley's mumbling, "You're still on that word? C'mon English. I thought you were smarter than that."  
  
Wesley turned to the young woman with a scowl; "Faith. First, stop calling me that. Second, couldn't you annoy someone else?"  
  
Faith smiled, "Wesley, I'm hurt. I annoy you?"  
  
"Not nearly as much as Xander but far more then your average marching band playing the best of Duran-Duran." He ignored Angel's snort and Faith's smirk. "As for the scrolls, they've been written piece by piece over the last four thousands years in over twenty languages, the majority of languages aren't human. These things take time."  
  
Faith nodded, "Fair enough."  
  
Wesley rolled his eyes, "I mean after all these prophecies are pivotal to the vampire with a…" He paused and turned to her, "I'm sorry?"  
  
Angel raised an eyebrow at the pair as Faith continued, "If this is tough, okay. After all, I wouldn't want to shake my place as second most annoying person in Wesley Wyndam-Pryce's life. That just means I can't go for the kill." Faith grinned as she popped a slice of apple into her mouth.  
  
Wesley nodded, "Fair enough."  
  
Just as Wesley was about to return to the scroll a ringing sounded from the back of his chair, more specifically, from his coat pocket. He reached into his pocket and produced a flip-up cellular phone. He opened the phone and put it to his ear, "Hello?" The Englishman's eyes lit up happily, "Sarina. How are you? No, no I'm doing well. I've been researching a case for Angel…"  
  
Faith leaned towards Angel, "Sarina? Cordelia's friend?"  
  
Angel nodded, "They've been out quite a bit since that night she came by. I think it's serious too, she got him a phone."  
  
"The fact that his boss brutally assaulted one of her fancy-boys three months ago didn't deter her?"  
  
"Apparently it did not."  
  
"Alright. I'll see you tonight. Good-bye." Wesley closed the phone then slipped it into the front pocket of his pants. He returned to the scrolls, "Sarina and I are going to spend an evening together." He picked up the magnifying glass, "At my apartment."  
  
Vampire and Slayer traded raised eyebrows, Angel turned back to his reading, "Our little man is all grown-up, Faith."  
  
Xander entered the office, dropping a newspaper into Angel's lap. He pointed to an article next to a familiar face, "It seems Lindsey has worked through his crisis of faith."  
  
Angel picked up the paper, "'Lindsey McDonald Named Junior Partner at Wolfram and Hart.' I'll be damned…"  
  
Wesley sighed, "After all you did for him. He sells his soul for thirty pieces of silver."  
  
Xander crossed the office and plopped down on the couch next to Faith, "Thirty pieces of silver in the form of a six-figure salary and benefits package." Faith offered him a slice of apple; he smiled and held out his hand "Please." Faith did him one better by using the slice of apple to gently pry his lips and slip it into his mouth.  
  
With a wink, Faith said in a stage whisper "Remember the body shots on your birthday?"  
  
Xander nearly choked on the fruit, before swallowing "How could I forget, you licked salt off a stripper's stomach before sucking a slice of lime out of my mouth."  
  
Wesley had continued talking to Angel, "It's a shame, he had an opportunity to change…" Wesley turned to them incredulously, "Do you mean to tell me that while Angel and I endured the horror of Cordelia's play, you were participating in erotic drinking games with Xander and an exotic dancer?"  
  
Faith smirked, "I told you and Angel you should've blown Cordy off to come with us." Her smirk grew into a full blown evil grin, "Though to be fair Wes, you would have to find another partner for body shots, but considering who you've been spending time with, that shouldn't be too much of a problem."  
  
Angel closed his book and stood, "Shh." The group quickly fell into silence, "It's a little late for a visitor." He crept out of his office through the front office. The others followed him, grabbing weapons along the way.  
  
Angel found someone lurking in the shadows outside his office. He could see the figure's face was obscured by a purple cape. He crossed the hall while Faith brought her axe up and Wesley and Xander took aim with their crossbows, waiting to see if the intruder was hostile.   
  
Wesley watched warily as the vampire reached out and touched the intruder's shoulder. Wesley's first reaction to his response was perhaps some sort of high-pitched War-cry like the Shrieking Kel'Hari Demons native to the Mountains of Northeastern Afghanistan, however, the way the intruder cringed away quickly squelched that theory. Angel stepped back, "Mr. Nabbit?"  
  
Xander lowered his crossbow, "David?"  
  
The intruder who'd been revealed as Computer Billionaire and former Angel Investigations client, David Nabbit was clutching his chest; "Heart… Heart, in my throat!"  
  
Angel looked at his co-workers in an embarrassed fashion before turning to the businessman; "I'm sorry. I-I didn't…"  
  
David stood up removing the hood of his cape, "No, that was so cool! Can we do it again?"  
  
Faith looked around suspiciously, "Are you in trouble?"  
  
David smiled and nervously toyed with the edge of his cape, "No… No-no, I just popped by to y'know… hang!" Faith smirked when his voice cracked, he continued, "Xander and Wesley said it was cool the other night when we were playing D and D." He smiled, "I blew off my Board of Directors' meeting, it's my night to be Dungeon Master a little later tonight." He held up the edge of his cape, "What do you think of my cape?"  
  
Faith choked on laughter while Xander scowled at her, Wesley nodded; "It's nice." He coughed, "Shiny."  
  
"You guys wanna hang?" David looked past the group into the office, "Oh wow!" He stepped into the office and looked around with awe comparable to a fan-boy seeing the X-Mansion come to life. "Oh wow. Wow! This is where it all happens!" The others followed him in as he checked out Cordelia's desk. "They're alone, helpless, in agony. No one to turn to… They come to you," He waved at the coffee machine, "Drink that coffee," He walked over to the couch then sat down, "Sit on this couch, unspeakable fiends hot on their tails." He sighed and kicked at the edge of the rug at his feet. "What did I do today? Spun off my digital pager and wireless phone network and made a few…" He shrugged, "Okay, several million. Big Whoop! What does that mean?"  
  
Xander shrugged, "A lifetime VIP membership at 'City of Angels' Topless Bar?"  
  
Faith raised an eyebrow at Xander before nodding, while David seemed to ponder that for a moment; "You guys though, you fight demons! Why any second, some beast from Hell could walk through that door."  
  
"Hello all!" Xander and Wesley jumped and yelled out in terror, while Faith and Angel raised their weapons. Cordelia looked at all of them in confusion, she then touched a hand to her skirt, "What? Is there a stain on my new skirt?"  
  
The members of Angel Investigations, save their receptionist slash head of payroll gave David a withering glare, which he answered with a blush; "Have you guys seen any cool demons lately?"  
  
***  
  
Lindsey, Lilah and Hammond all watched as their monks completed the circle and chant on Wolfram and Hart's consecrated ground. The circle burst into flames which reached high into the darkness. The monks backed away as a black robed figure emerged from the flames. His features were partially obscured by the cowl of his black cape, but Lindsey could see his white skin, red eyes and Gold mask. He was one of the most gruesome sights the young lawyer had ever seen, and considering his clientele that was saying something.  
  
Holland stepped forward and bowed his head slightly, "Welcome to Wolfram and Hart, I hope you had a pleasant journey." Their summoned warrior didn't even pause as he passed them for the office. Holland smiled, "I see Vocah is as unpleasant as his reputation suggests."  
  
***  
  
Angel offered David a cup of coffee, "Not that we mind the company Mr. Nabbit, but is there another reason you came by?"  
  
David took the coffee and smiled, "Actually, I was talking to Xander about this last week when we were playing Magic, and I would like to make a business proposal."  
  
Xander's eyes widened, "David, I was just kidding about that."  
  
"I know Xander, but it's a good idea." They all watched as David's entire being seemed to transform. It seemed that while in social situations David Nabbit was your average awkward late-twenty/early-thirties geek. But when business was discussed; he sat up straighter, his chin tilted upwards with confidence and he seemed very much comfortable in his own skin. "I want to buy an interest in Angel Investigations; a silent partnership if you will."  
  
David's news may as well have been a nuclear bomb detonating in the office for all the chaos it caused. Wesley fumbled his crossbow before dropping it causing the weapon to fire accidentally nearly slicing his nose off as the bolt embedded in the ceiling. Faith's axe clattered on the floor, and Angel raised an eyebrow. Meanwhile, Cordelia's eyes lit with proverbial dollar signs. "Really? Please, Mr. Nabbit, continue."  
  
Angel's head shook, "Cordelia-"  
  
Cordelia leveled him with a glare the others previously thought only Buffy was capable of earning, "Shh! Business-people are talking!" She turned back to David with her smile re-appearing, "You were saying?"  
  
David smiled, "Well, I guess what it comes down to is this. I want to make a difference in the world, and as much money as I've made in software, at the end of the day, besides flooding the market with enough wireless toys to choke a rhino, I don't think I am." He smiled, "But you guys are. Every day you're out there turning back the Forces of Darkness and saving the unsuspecting World-" At the amused looks he received, David blushed, "Sorry, like I said, D and D tonight, I get a little dramatic; but the point is I can't fight, I don't have superpowers, or visions, and outside of writing lines of programming or rolling twenty-sided dice to make Orcs disappear, I'm not a terribly smart man. However, I can do my part by making sure you can do yours more easily.   
  
"Basically, I'd put you guys on the payroll, a lot of companies keep investigators on the staff, I have a corporate one, so I'll have my accountant bury you guys so deep in the records that no one in NabTech will even know you exist," He blushed slightly, "Well, unless they need your help, of course." He laughed a little uncomfortably at his joke then cleared his throat. "What do you think?"  
  
Cordelia smiled and helped David to his feet, "We love the idea, why don't you and I hammer out the details at the Starbucks down the street?"  
  
The internet tycoon reddened considerably and when he replied his voice cracked like a fifteen year old, "Okay."  
  
As Cordelia led him out of the office she said, "Why don't we talk salary now, and then 401-ks and stock-plans later?"  
  
The others watched them depart before Xander spoke up, "You gotta love her attitude, she'll have us in company cars with six figure salaries by morning."  
  
After a brief moment of contemplation, Wesley returned to the inner office. He picked up a book and began flipping through it, "I think I know what it means…"  
  
Xander followed him, with Angel and Faith trailing; "C'mon Wes, I know the Brits aren't fond of our use of their language, but you should be able to figure I meant a salary between one hundred and one million dollars a-"  
  
Wesley leveled a glare at the Seer which rivaled the best another ex-Watcher had set aside for the young man, "The translation, you git." He began to go over his notes again, "If it isn't Phygian but instead descends from the ancient Magyar's then its root is proto-Ugaric. In which case it would mean..." Angel sat down and got back to his book, he didn't notice the color bleed from his friend's face as he realized what the translation meant.  
  
Faith and Xander did notice however, the Slayer stepped forward, "Wes, what does it mean?"  
  
Wesley looked up, "Death."  
  
As one they turned to Angel, who hadn't pulled his nose out of his book. Faith looked between him and the scrolls, "Angel's going to die?"  
  
Angel paused from his reading to glance up, "Oh. Is that all?"  
  
Xander's eyebrow rose at Angel's non-reaction, "Don't get all emotional on us Boss-man."  
  
Wesley however began to stammer out an explanation, "Apocalyptic prophecies have never been an exact science. It could be way off, well after the coming battles, there's a chance I'm not even translating this correctly," The vampire merely grunted and Wesley sighed, "So it's good you're not even remotely worried by this."  
  
Xander sighed and walked out into the lobby; he opened the fridge and retrieved a juice box. As he punctured the top with the straw he said; "Okay, Mr. Spock's lack of reaction aside, what can we do to-" He clenched his eyes shut, staggered and squeezed the juice box in his hand, spraying its contents on the floor before collapsing out into the lobby as a vision bombarded his senses. He saw a bag lady being attack by some sort of slime demon. As his vision faded he found himself looking up at the concerned faces of his friends. He groaned as he sat up, "It's like they wait for me to be in a position to embarrass myself." The vampire looked at him in annoyance; "Slime demon's attacking some bag lady near the waste treatment plant in El Segundo."  
  
Faith turned to Angel who had already crossed the office grabbing an axe and one of his coats as he did "Angel, do you-"  
  
He entered the elevator, "I've got it." He closed the elevator door behind him before turning, "Stay here, and Xander?"  
  
Xander got to his feet, "Yeah?"  
  
Angel started the elevator and smirked at the young man; "Clean up that mess."  
  
Xander sighed as Angel disappeared from sight, "Look at him, six months ago when I came here he hardly ever made pithy remarks," He wiped at a false tear, "I'm so proud."  
  
***  
  
Vocah stalked Holland's office angrily, "You lost the scrolls."  
  
Lilah stepped forward, "Not lost, they were stolen."  
  
Holland stepped past her and placed his hand on her forearm to quiet her, "The scrolls were stolen from our vault a few weeks ago."  
  
Vocah turned back to Holland, "The raising cannot be performed without the scrolls. You are jeopardizing events which have been carefully guided for centuries. Who has the scrolls now?"  
  
Lindsey snorted and said, "Angel has them."  
  
The dark warrior turned to the mortals before him and fought the urge to kill all three for their stupidity; "Angel? I am summoned for the raising; to bring the very thing which will sever his ties to the Powers That Be and bring him down to us. Now he has the scrolls?" Lilah was about to reply, she was silenced with a dark glare; "He has the scrolls, his connection to the Powers is complete."  
  
Lilah shook her head, "Our best people took a year to translate the scrolls, and there is no way-"  
  
Lindsey stepped forward interrupting her; "What can we do to help?"  
  
Vocah gave them one more withering look; "Nothing, I will sever his links to the powers and the scrolls will be returned to us." He turned to the door and made his exit with the monks following behind.  
  
After the doors closed, Holland smiled and turned to the bar, "That's settled then. Scotch anyone?"  
  
***  
  
With a swing of the sword, Angel had decapitated the slime demon which attacked the insane woman just as he was arriving. He turned to her with his sword down, the woman looked at the corpse with shock; "He attacked me!"  
  
Angel nodded, "He did, but you're safe now."  
  
"They never let me have a moment's peace."  
  
"It's okay." Angel led her out of the alley.  
  
She spat on the corpse as they passed it, "See what they do? They attack you when you aren't looking."  
  
Angel nodded in a placating fashion, "You're safe now." They rounded the corner to leave the alley; he found the very unfriendly face of Kate Lockley approaching.  
  
The woman continued, "Yeah, but you sliced him up real good." He noticed a flash of movement from Kate as her hand left her sidearm, but he could see her tense posture remained, she was still on the defensive. The woman turned to Kate, "He saved me from one of their spies. And by  
the way, I don't appreciate the dental association watching me like that." She then made her way towards the street.  
  
Angel suddenly felt a chill as he locked eyes with her, "Hi."  
  
Kate seemed to be trying to will his head to explode with her thoughts; "What was it?"  
  
Angel smiled and waved at the back alley, "Don't worry it's dead now."  
  
He didn't think it was possible but her face hardened even more; "What was it?"  
  
Angel sighed and rubbed his temple, "Slime demon. Look, I know this has been hard for you, most people can't take what's really out there-"  
  
Kate interrupted, "Listen, I don't need some *thing* telling me about 'most people.' I'll find all I need to know to make sure I rid the streets of your kind."  
  
Angel felt his anger come roaring to the surface, "My kind?"  
  
"Yeah, the kind that killed my father. You think I'd just forget?" She spun on her heel and walked away, throwing one last remark over her shoulder, "I don't forget anything."  
  
Angel suppressed the urge to run her through; he took an unneeded breath then turned and walked down the alley in the opposite direction.  
  
***  
  
Cordelia entered the lobby of Angel's building and found a man from UPS at their office door, "You need something signed for?"  
  
The man turned and smiled when he noticed Cordelia's chest, "Anything you want."  
  
Cordelia scowled at him as he handed her the package. She noticed the return address was from NabTech's Personnel Offices. She signed his clipboard and glowered at the guy one last time before entering the office. The only person she found in the office was Wesley. Which was to be expected, Angel would be downstairs asleep, and Faith had said something about taking Xander to help her pick out a piercing before she left on her morning run.  
  
Wesley looked like he hadn't slept last night and heard all the horrible secrets he didn't already know. He closed the book in front of him and mumbled something about death. She entered Angel's office, "What is it Wesley? Angel's destiny is to finally put his leather pants to good work and take over as a Backstreet Boy?" She paused and blinked, "Do you think he can sing?"  
  
"Depends Cordelia, do you honestly think *they* can sing?" He sighed and closed the book he was reading, "Angel's been prophesied to die."  
  
Cordelia shrugged, "So?" At Wesley's sour expression Cordelia laughed. "Wes, just because it's prophecy, doesn't mean it came from on high."  
  
"Actually Cordelia, that's precisely what prophecy is."  
  
"Whatever. Besides, we beat a ton of prophecies in Sunnydale, just ask Buffy."  
  
The former Watcher removed his glasses and pressed his thumb against the bridge of his nose in a futile attempt to quell the headache Cordelia was giving him; "First, Xander did not avert that prophecy in a technical sense, Buffy died, the existence of Faith as an active Slayer is proof. The prophecy merely neglected to say that Buffy's friend would follow her into the Master's lair and resurrect her." He replaced his glasses and looked briefly to the elevator shaft, "The point is not that Angel is prophesied to die; which is by no means, a good thing. It's Angel's reaction that worries me. We tell him he is fated to die and he doesn't care."  
  
Cordelia rolled her eyes, "So he didn't run screaming from the room Wes, he's not you or Xander. He faces death every day like, well like lunch. I'm hungry." She got to her feet and went over to the donuts.  
  
Wesley waited for her to return, "It's not a matter of Angel being unafraid of death. He doesn't care if he dies, he's cut off. Death has no power over him because there is nothing in life he wants. It is our desires that make us human."  
  
Cordelia pulled a piece of her glazed donuts loose, "Angel's kind of human." As she popped the piece of donut into her mouth, Wesley yanked the donut from her hand. "Hey!"  
  
Wesley held up the pastry as an example, "What ties us to life?"  
  
"Right now I'm going to say donuts." She reached out and yanked the donut back.   
  
"What connects us to life is what we want. Angel, like all vampires has no ties to the world. He is in the world, but not a part of it."  
  
"Angel's different, he has a soul."  
  
"A soul is not enough Cordelia; a soul is just a conscience. He needs an anchor, a connection. You and I are connected because we change and grow and learn…"  
  
"But Angel will never have any of that. What are you saying Wes? That Angel has nothing to look forward to? That he's going to go on forever, the same, in the world, but always cut  
off from it?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
Cordelia jumped up and began to pace, "We have to do something!"  
  
"I'm not sure we can."  
  
She squawked and turned towards him, "What is with you? You just drop this bombshell from your musty old prophecy then tell me there's nothing we can do?"  
  
Wesley sighed tiredly, "He is what he is."  
  
She crossed the room and crashed her fists down on the desk, her anger bled away to a more pleading expression; "Angel's good, he has a soul, and he's our friend. He helps the hopeless and now he is one of them." They turned at the sound of the elevator coming to life, "Well, he's going to start wanting things whether he wants to or not!" She turned and walked into Angel's office, "Good morning Angel. Coffee?"  
  
Angel grabbed a book from his desk, "No thank you."  
  
"Tea?"  
  
"No."  
  
Cordelia stepped forward and blocked his return to the elevator, "Angel, is there anything you want?"  
  
He seemed to ponder her question for a moment before stepping around her, "No." When Cordelia whimpered and turned to Wesley, Angel sighed in annoyance. "What's going on here?" He narrowed his eyes at her, "Did you wreck the Plymouth?"  
  
Wesley stepped forward, "Angel, Cordelia's worried that you don't seem to want anything."  
  
She nodded and took Angel's hand, "You're cut off from the world, but that's okay, we're going to help you."  
  
The vampire looked at his friend like she'd lost her mind, "Oh. Good."  
  
She beamed at him, "We'll start small. How would you like a puppy?" A roll of his eyes was her answer, "Okay, ficas? They're low maintenance." He looked at her in growing annoyance, "Ant farm?"  
  
Wesley turned towards the door, "Well, I'm off."  
  
Angel tried to pull his hand away from Cordelia, but was surprised at the iron tightness of her grip. "Where are you going?"  
  
"To the rare book store, I suppose it would be a bad idea to take the scroll with me."  
  
He turned to the current owner of his hand, "Cordelia?" She let go and blushed, "I'll lock it up in the weapon's cabinet."  
  
"It might be a good time to consult the Oracles."  
  
He scowled at the Englishman, "I don't need to see them about this."  
  
He nodded, "I see, well think about it." He then left Angel alone with Cordelia.  
  
She smiled at the vampire, "Oracle. It'll get you out of the house." She rocked on her heels. Angel snorted and stepped into the elevator. As he started down into his apartment he heard Cordelia say, "I'm only trying to connect you Angel!"  
  
She groaned and turned to leave, as she exited Angel's office she heard the voices of Faith and Xander, "All I'm sayin' Tiger is there's nothing like a piercing; the rush of pain, some of them even help in the sack." They entered the office and Cordelia immediately noticed the other woman's new jewelry. Faith's midriff top showed her navel ring and a flash of light brought attention to the piercing in her left eyebrow.  
  
Xander smiled and shook his head, "I don't know Faith."  
  
She stopped Xander in the door, using the cramped confines to her advantage; she ran a finger over his ear. "C'mon, your ear?" He shook his head and her finger slid down the side of his throat until it casually traveled over his chest, "Eyebrow? Tongue? Nipple?" Xander shook his head at each suggestion, the slayer's eyes darkened, she bit her lip and smiled wickedly; "Prince Albert?"  
  
The Seer tilted his head, "I don't know that one."  
  
Faith's hand began to drift southward "Well, y'see they pierce the underside of," she stopped her exploration just south of his belt buckle and raised her newly pierced eyebrow, "Captain Happy." The color left Xander's face as quickly as the light grew in her eyes. "Don't go all vanilla on me Tiger."  
  
"I'm not-" Xander coughed when his voice cracked, "I'm not really a piercing type of guy Faith."  
  
"How about a lil' ink?" She smirked, "I know, we'll get 'Slayer Tested, Quality Guaranteed' on your a-"  
  
Cordelia picked up her purse, "That's enough!" She growled and pushed them out the door, "We need to find something for Angel to connect to the world with, and no skanky flirting Faith, I just had a donut."  
  
***  
  
Xander and Faith followed Cordelia as she made her way through the promenade. She was looking at the different displays, trying to find for Angel. She stopped at a display of some surfing apparel and equipment, Faith rolled her eyes; "Gee Queen C, I seriously doubt the boss would be one for Hangin' Ten."  
  
Xander nodded, "Gotta go with Faith here, I don't think I've ever heard him say 'Dude' or 'Totally Brah!' It's just not his style."  
  
She blistered them with a glare, "You guys could try to help. Angel's in trouble, we need to help him connect to the world."  
  
Thee young man snorted, "Oh Jesus, he's fine Cordelia. He's always been detached, even with Buffy."  
  
Her eyes narrowed at him, "He's depressed and moody and fated to die and we have to stop that. We need to connect him to the world, before something awful happens."  
  
"Y'know what connects me to the world? Spicy Buffalo Wings, I've been thinking about them all day."  
  
Cordelia turned away after rolling her eyes, "God Xander, there are more important things then food." She walked off to the next display.  
  
Faith nudged him, "Thinking about chicken wings all day?" Xander turned and smirked at the twinkle in her eyes, "Even when you were looking at C's ass on the walk over?"  
  
Xander winked, "I'm a guy, I can think of food and sex at the same time. Sometimes I can even think of food and sex together."  
  
The slayer grinned wickedly, "I respect your imagination Tiger, but let's leave the spicy food out of sex, it tends to burn." She nudged him forward and the pair followed Miss Chase once again.  
  
Cordelia stopped in front of a booth with a sign reading "Art Attack." As she looked over the paints and pads, the woman who ran the booth approached, "Do you paint?"  
  
Cordelia smiled, "No, we're looking for something for our friend." She picked up a box of colored pencils, "I was telling them that he needs a hobby, he's been a little detached."  
  
The young woman smiled, "Well, they say art is the best therapy for that."  
  
Faith stopped inspecting some water colors and looked at the sales woman, "Are you serious?"  
  
She smiled, "Sure. They use painting and clay in mental institutions all the time. It helps them get back in touch."  
  
Cordelia laughed uncomfortably while Xander turned away from the comic's booth across the sidewalk, "Oh no, Angel isn't crazy, he's um…" He waved his hands while he looked for an appropriate word, "He's distant."  
  
"Depressed?"  
  
Cordelia shrugged, "Well, he wears a lot of black I guess."  
  
As the woman showed Faith and Cordelia a set of paints, pads, pencils even an easel, Xander returned to the comic's booth to check out the latest issue of Vampirella. "How does that costume stay on?" He felt a brush on the wrist, but when he turned no one was there. Faith and Cordelia joined him a few seconds later, Cordelia holding two armfuls of art supplies. "So is that it? Do you have everything you need to save the Boss-man's soul?" Cordelia narrowed her eyes and was about to make a biting remark but Xander staggered as he was hit with a vision. It didn't last long but the images were familiar, they were in the first vision the Powers ever gave him, he knew what they meant. "Cor, cell phone! Faith, Wes is in trouble. Find him, don't let him open Angel's weapon's cabinet."  
  
"Xand I-"  
  
"Go!" Xander heard Faith's footsteps as she ran off. He felt Cordelia's phone drop into his hand and he was dialing Angel's number when he was hit by another vision. The most intense and painful one he'd ever felt. He dropped her phone and stumbled backwards knocking over a booth as thousands upon thousands of faces and cries overwhelmed him. He cried out at the combination of the pain he felt and the terror and sadness of the people he was seeing. "God! Please someone make it stop!" He began to sob then curled into a ball on the ground while Cordelia hovered over him and the art girl screamed for someone to call 911. He fell deeper and deeper into his visions; so far gone the world fell away and the pain was all that was left.  
  
***  
  
Angel jerked awake on his couch in the office. He sat up and ran a hand over his jaw. He looked out the window in the lobby and noticed it was dark out. He stood up then grabbed the scrolls off the desk; he placed them into the tube and descended the staircase into his apartment. When he reached the bottom of the steps he made his way to the weapon's cabinet and locked up the scroll. As he turned away from the cabinet he saw a flash of movement from the corner of his eye, when he turned it was gone.  
  
He shook it off and walked into the kitchen, as he passed the dining room table he noticed his phone flashing. He picked it up and opened it to read that he had eleven missed calls. Just as he was about to check the numbers and voice mails it rang again. He turned it on, "Hello?"  
  
/Angel!\  
  
Angel's eyes widened at the frantic tone of Cordelia's voice. She sounded like she'd been crying. "Cordelia?"  
  
/Where have you been? Never mind, you need to get to LA County like two hours ago!\  
  
Angel's stomach turned and a horrible feeling swept over him, "Cordelia, what happened?"  
  
/It's Xander.\  
  
Angel closed his phone and sprinted to his car, stopping only long enough to grab a coat.  
  
As he exited, Vocah emerged from the shadows towards the weapon's cabinet.  
  
***  
  
Cordelia looked up when the doors crashed open and saw a swirl of black cloth tear in. She intercepted Angel before he got to the information desk; the vampire looked at her with barely restrained fury. "What happened? Who was it? I'll tear them apart!"  
  
Cordelia squeezed his hands, "He's had a vision that's gone crazy-" Xander's wild howling interrupted her and Angel barged past the nurse with Cordelia in tow.  
  
They found Xander wildly writhing against the restraints; a redheaded woman seemed to be in charge of the situation; "Another five c.c.s of Ativan!"   
  
A nurse was preparing a shot as Angel approached, "What happened?"  
  
The doctor turned to him just as an orderly grabbed him, "Who are you?"  
  
Angel pushed the orderly away angrily, "I'm his brother, what happened?"  
  
The doctor desperately tried to keep Xander from breaking loose from his restraints, "They brought him in a couple of hours ago, his fiancé didn't know what happened she said he just collapsed in the promenade!" Two orderlies grabbed Xander's arm and held it still while a nurse pushed a needle into his arm. "Does your brother have a history of mental illness?"  
  
Angel shook his head, "No."  
  
"Is he a drug user; psychedelics, LSD, Ecstasy?"  
  
"NO!"  
  
"He's having a psychotic episode, we've done a CAT scan, there's no sign of injury or brain damage, but we can't sedate him." To reinforce the Doctor's words, Xander yanked an arm loose of the restraint and in his trashing punched a nurse.  
  
Angel leapt forward and grabbed Xander's arm and held him down, "Xander! Can you hear me? XANDER!" As he held Xander down, he noticed a mark on Xander's wrist, a mark that was new.  
  
The Doctor took no time to be impressed by Angel's strength, "Does he have any drug allergies? We need to know."  
  
Cordelia stepped further into the room, "He's allergic to Sulfa-antibiotics."  
  
Angel shook his head, "Drugs won't help."  
  
The Doctor ordered another tranquilizer, "I have to warn you, if we can't find a way to stop this…"  
  
Angel nodded and pushed Cordelia out of the room. He closed the door. "Xander's your fiancé now?"  
  
Cordelia scowled and slapped him on the chest, "Not now!" She dissolved into tears.  
  
He gathered her into his arms and cooed at her, "I'll stop this. I promise." He looked back towards the room, "Does he have a tattoo on his wrist?"  
  
She stepped back and wiped her eyes, "No. He's too chicken to get a tattoo or piercing. Why?"  
  
The vampire walked over to the information desk where he grabbed a pencil and pad, he made a sketch of the mark and stuffed it in his pocket. "Cordelia, stay here, I've got to show this to Wes, Faith and I will track this guy down and stop this." He grin pulled at his lips for a moment, "I promise Xander will be back to annoying the Hell out of us by morning."  
  
Cordelia nodded and in a blink of an eye the vampire was gone.  
  
***  
  
Wesley descended into Angel's apartment with an armful of books. He pushed the gate open and walked across the apartment. He dropped his books on the dining table then turned towards the weapon's cabinet, as he was about to open the door he noticed the doors had been forced and heard some sort of noise coming from inside.   
  
He approached the cabinet cautiously, and reached slowly for the door. Just as he touched the door and began to pull it open a hand clamped down on his shoulder, "Wes! Don't!" Wesley jerked at the sound of Faith's voice and her touch; as a result the door came open, they saw what was in the cabinet and Faith yanked him away, "Run!"  
  
***  
  
Angel put the Plymouth in park and killed the engine across the street from his building. He got out and tried to find a sign of Wesley or Faith. He began to cross the street when the building exploded and flames erupted from within. He hit the ground covered in brick and glass; his ears were ringing so badly that he could barely hear every car alarm on the block going off at once. To be safe he rolled around to smother any flames on him then staggered to his feet.   
  
He sprinted into the blown out remains of his building. "Wesley! Faith! Wes!" He maneuvered down the steps, avoiding the wreckage and flames as he did. He found Faith lying on top of Wesley; both of them were unconscious and looked pretty bad. As he pulled Faith off of Wesley he stirred and coughed, "Wes?" Wesley tried to move, "Don't move Wes, you're bleeding." His eyes rolled back into his head and he was out again. Hearing the building stress increasing, Angel slung both of his friends over his shoulders and carried them out of the building.  
  
***  
  
"That's right, Pryce, her name is Elizabeth Pryce." Angel knew he couldn't risk the police knowing Faith's name in case she was still a fugitive so he lied and said she was Wesley's sister. She was unconscious; she had two broken ribs, a separated shoulder and several bruises and cuts. Wesley wasn't as badly hurt, but he was still in and out of consciousness.  
  
The medics loaded them into the Ambulance and Angel tried to fight down his growing rage. He knew that Wolfram and Hart were behind this, and if he had his way they'd be lucky if he didn't burn the building down. "Never a dull moment with you, is there?"  
  
He growled as he turned towards Kate, she gave him a stony expression. He decided he didn't have time for her, he started to walk past her and he said "I have to go."  
  
Kate stepped into his path, "You are the only witness to a major crime scene, and you're going nowhere. Who the Hell do you think you are?"  
  
Angel suppressed the urge to snap her neck, "I don't have time for you."  
  
Kate pushed him back and placed a hand on her sidearm, "I'm glad we're not playing friends anymore, and I am really sick and tired of your attitude! We are talking about a thing called the law here-"  
  
"No, we're talking about a little thing called life. Now I am sorry about your father, but I am getting sick of you blaming me for everything you can't handle! Now if you want to play enemies, try me." He shouldered past her and walked to his car.  
  
***  
  
As Angel raced to the Oracles he dialed the first number he could think of. The phone rang twice before it was picked up on the other end. /Hello?\  
  
"It's me. I need your help. How fast can you get here?"  
  
/Angel?\  
  
***  
  
"I come before the Oracles for guidance and direction. I beseech access to the knowing ones." Before he could finish the incant, Angel was blinded by the flash of the gateway opening. He stepped into the hall of the Oracles and was shocked to see the carnage before. The Oracles had both been slain. The female Oracle still had some sort of scythe in her back.  
  
"It is unfortunate." Angel looked up in shock to see a ghostly form of the female Oracle standing over her own body, "Things are unraveling. The dark ones broach our temples now."  
  
Angel stepped forward holding out the sketch he made of the mark on Xander's wrist, "Can you help me?"  
  
The oracle frowned, "I can't stay long. I've been dead for some time." Her expression soured further, "So far, I don't like it." She looked at the sketch, "Your Seer, he's in trouble; that is the mark of Vocah. He is a Dark Warrior. He wants you weak and cut off from the Powers That Be." She looked back down to her body, "He has opened your friend's mind to all those who are crying out in need and pain. He doesn't have much longer either."  
  
"How do I stop it?"  
  
"The words of Anatole, you will need the scrolls, Vocah has them."  
  
"Where do I find him?"  
  
"The raising." She faded for a moment before continuing, "Like so many of his kind, he hides behind Man's law. You will find him there. You must stop the Raising."  
  
Angel pulled the scythe out of her body, "I will." He turned and left to find Vocah.  
  
***  
  
Faith rolled her wheelchair into Xander's room. She found Xander restrained to the bed and tranquilized. She could see the pain still etched on his face and tears in his medically glazed eyes, every few seconds a stray tear slipped down his cheek. Cordelia held his right hand tightly between hers with her forehead resting against their joined hands. She brought her chair to a stop and took his free hand with her unbandaged one. She looked up into his face for a long moment before whispering, "Okay Boy-Toy, time to wake up now."  
  
Cordelia mumbled from her seat, "I tried that. The retard is just as stubborn when he's drugged all to Hell as when he's awake." She looked over at the Slayer and scowled, "Somehow I'm sure this is your fault."  
  
"Wanna run this by me one more time Cor?"  
  
The older woman sniffled, "I'm sure if you had been able to stop Wesley from opening the cabinet, he'd already have found a way to wake Xander up."  
  
Faith scowled, "You are a real bitch, you know that right? This isn't about me not being able to save Wes; this is about me poaching on territory you'd been laying claim to."  
  
"Yeah? You come into town and Angel and Xander both fall all over each other to coddle you even though you tried to kill them both at least twice each. 'Faith needs trust.' 'She's never been welcomed in her life.' 'You don't understand what her life was like, Cor.' Blah, blah, blah. The truth is, you're just another controlling calculating, Slayer-bitch. I've watched this show before in Sunnydale."  
  
Faith scowled angrily, "You want to know what I think? I think you were trying to get Xander back, 'cause you figure he's some reward for you fighting the good fight."  
  
The former Prom-Queen squawked, "Projecting much, I'm not the one trying to redeem myself by getting into his pants."  
  
"What the Hell is the matter with you two?" Both women turned at the new voice. They were stunned to see who was there.  
  
***  
  
Five vampires struggled against the chains connecting them to a large wooden cage in the center of the tomb. The doors opened and two monks swung lamps spreading incense. Vocah followed them into the tomb with the scroll. The monks circled the vampires and began to chant, "We have prepared a holy place in the darkness and anointed it with oil. We have taken of the blood of the living and gathered together the living dead."  
  
Vocah began to read from the scrolls, "As it was written they shall prepare the way and the very gates of Hell shall open. That which is above shall tremble," As he spoke the words the tomb began to shake rattling the windows and wobbling the chandelier. Vocah continued without notice, "For that which is below shall arise; and the world shall know the beast shall know the world."  
  
***  
  
Cordelia and Faith found Buffy standing in the door with Willow and Giles flanking her. "Xander's dying in a Hospital bed and you're having a cat-fight?" She turned to Willow and Giles, "The nurse said Wesley's down the hall, check on him, I need to have a talk with these two."  
  
The pair nodded and reluctantly left the room, while the elder slayer entered. She bit back a tear as she watched Xander suffer an endless nightmare of pain and suffering. She reached over Cordelia and smoothed Xander's soaked hair away from his forehead. "Angel called, said some evil lawyers took you all down. I've never seen Willow drive so fast. She's a wreck right now, all of us are. I'm going to give you two the benefit of a doubt and say the stress of seeing Xander comatose, Wesley in the ICU, and Angel's going after some demon trying to end the World by himself has got you two lashing out."  
  
Faith scowled, "It's all so easy for you, isn't it B? Back in Sunnydale, everyone trips over themselves to kiss your ring-"  
  
Buffy silenced the younger slayer with a glare, "You need to shut up before I put you back in the ICU Faith. Don't think I've forgotten. The only reason I didn't skin you when I came in is because of Angel and Xander." Before Cordelia could comment, Buffy turned the same glare on her. "The fact is, that if you two are both chasing Xander, it's his choice not yours, it's not who deserves him, not who needs him more for their own redemption, it's about who Xander chooses to give his heart to. I'd suggest you two grow up. I'm going to find Willow and send her in. You two feel like fighting with someone, you come see me." She turned and left the room.  
  
Cordelia stood up, "The doctor said Wes would wake up soon, I'm going to call Sarina and check in on him." She leaned over and kissed Xander's forehead.  
  
Faith squeezed Xander's hand and kissed it, "Just wake up Xander. That's all, just wake up. I need you, we all need you." She closed her eyes and rested against his hand.  
  
"I've never seen him like this before."  
  
Faith's eyes snapped open at Willow's voice. She looked up and saw Willow's tear-streaked face looking down at Xander, "All these years, I've never had to visit Xander in the hospital, even after we started helping Buffy, he moves to LA, here less then a year and he's nearly had his eyes gouged out, impregnated with a succubus by Cordelia and now, he's gone insane and may be dying." She sighed, "Way to treat him guys." As Faith was about to protest Willow continued, "It's okay Faith. He's helping you and Angel. He's proud of himself; I haven't seen him proud of himself in a long time. He calls every week and tells me how much he's proud of you and Cordelia and Wesley, even Angel." The red-head smiled, "I'm so proud of him, he's always been such a good person, and now he's doing something he loves, headaches and near-death aside. He'd follow any one of you into Hell. Don't take that for granted, believe us, you don't miss Xander Harris until he's not there."  
  
"Red, I-"  
  
"Don't Faith. Making peace is for after something horrible happens, don't you dare condemn him by making peace with me." Willow gave Xander's hand one more squeeze before she left the room.  
  
***  
  
Angel watched from behind some shrubs as Holland, Lindsey and Lilah exited the building chatting idly about the Raising. He fought the urge to kill them all; he needed them to lead him to Vocah. The lawyers met up with some men in mover's uniforms they walked towards a stretch limo and a moving van. Angel smirked as a breeze lofted the scent of Lilah's perfume to his nose, he'd be able to track the scent easily.  
  
As they entered Angel got back into the Plymouth and started the engine. He waited for the vehicles to pass by before he pulled out and turned on his head lights. He followed them to a near-by cemetery where the limo and van pulled in. Angel found a parking spot and shut off the engine. He grabbed the scythe and exited the car then trotted across the street.  
  
He caught and followed Lilah's scent through the cemetery. After a few hundred yards, he saw the moving van in the distance. He moved through the shadows being careful to avoid detection. He found a window around the corner of the tomb, he could hear chanting inside. He listened more closely, "-Yet they live."   
  
Vocah responded, "Five are without soul." It was too late to prevent the ritual; he'd have to stop it. He backed away from the window for room to get a running start. He charged forward and crashed through the window and the metal frame inside. His entrance had surprised everyone long enough for him to take the first swing at Vocah.   
  
Vocah met Angel's swing with a new scythe, and then countered Angel with an attack of his own. Their weapons locked up Vocah swung theirs scythes, bringing the vampire off balance. The demon warrior then threw Angel into the wall.  
  
In the background, Angel could hear Lindsey trying to continue the ritual. He was speaking in Latin, and from the sound of it, he was sacrificing the vampires for something else to come into the world. Angel had little time to react as Vocah swung at his head, the Champion blocked the attack then kicked Vocah's knee, stumbling him. He brought the scythe over his head to try for a killing blow, but was met with a boot which launched the vampire across the room. He landed in a heap on top of the monks.  
  
He jumped to his feet and charged Vocah, behind him the wind picked up and the vampires were caught up in a vortex, they dusted and the vortex closed in on the box, before a shockwave erupted from the box, throwing Lindsey to the ground. Angel and Vocah didn't even pause, in their fight. He struck Vocah with the blunt end of his weapon, which sent the demon out into the hall. Vocah charged forward, and Angel met him with the blade in the stomach. He yanked his weapon out of the warrior's stomach then quickly buried it in the top of Vocah's skull. The demon was dead before he even started to fall over.  
  
Angel yanked his weapon out of the corpse and turned around. The lawyers had already cleared out. The box and its contents were gone as well. However, Lindsey remained behind. He saw Angel and grabbed a cross. Angel started towards him, "Lindsey, give me the scroll."  
  
Lindsey smirked at the vampire and stepped towards a near-by torch, "Not gonna happen. It belongs with us."  
  
Angel answered Lindsey's step, he kept the scythe loosely in his hand, "Us. You put your faith into Wolfram and Hart."  
  
Lindsey took another step, "You said I had to make a choice."  
  
Angel answered, "And you did."  
  
Lindsey smiled, "I had a crisis, and I want to thank you for your help." A step, "I'm seeing things much more clearly now." He gestured with the scrolls, "I see tonight was foretold, and it doesn't bode well for you."  
  
Angel moved forward, "You see what I'm going to do to you if you don't give me that scroll?"  
  
"I see that you need the Words of Anatole to save Harris. I see you're either the one with the power, or you're powerless. Now, since it was foretold that Wolfram and Hart would cut all your ties to the Powers That Be…" He held the scrolls out towards the fire.  
  
As the young man held the scroll out, Angel swung the scythe, it swung through the air, slicing Lindsey's outstretched right hand off at the wrist. The scroll fell safely to the ground, the loose hand skidding away from it. The Lawyer cried out in pain, before collapsing to the floor. He gripped his forearm to try and slow the blood-flow.  
  
The vampire casually crossed the room, he picked up the scroll and his scythe then bent over the fallen lawyer, "Don't believe everything you're foretold, Lindsey." He turned and left the tomb to get the scroll back to the others.  
  
***  
  
Everyone in the room watched Xander's tormented look as he stared straight ahead, his head was shaking in the negative and he mumbled incoherently. Angel wrapped his arm over Cordelia's shoulders as they stood in the corner of the room. Buffy and Willow were on the far side of the room with Wesley who was in a wheelchair. Faith sat at Xander's side holding his hand.   
  
Giles stood at the foot of the bed reading from the scroll, "-And if the beast shalt find thee, and touch thee, thou shalt be wounded in thy soul and thou shalt know madness. The beast shalt attack and cripple thee and thou shalt know neither friend nor family. But thou shalt undo the beast. Thou shalt find the sacred words of Anatole and thou shalt be restored. Three times shalt thou say these words: unbind, unbind, unbind."  
  
There was a flash of blinding light; when Angel's vision cleared he found Xander blinking. He and Cordelia were across the room in an instant, he squeezed the Seer's shoulder, "Hey, welcome back."  
  
Faith smiled and squeezed his hand, "Hey Tiger."  
  
Xander looked around, seemingly trying to figure out if the vision was over, "Angel? Faith?"  
  
"Ahem!"  
  
Xander grinned and turned towards one perturbed brunette, "And I missed you most of all Scarecrow."  
  
Cordelia smiled and pressed her lips against his forehead, "God help me, because I even missed your crappy humor, Dorkus!"  
  
Xander's grin dissolved almost instantly, "God Angel. There are so many people hurting, we have to help them."  
  
The vampire nodded, "We will Xand. We will." He waved the others over, "Right now, you've got some visitors."  
  
"Hey Xander."  
  
Xander's smile returned instantly, "Wills!" Willow wrapped herself around Xander in a crushing hug. Xander tried to hug back only to notice the restraints, "Kinda trapped here."  
  
Angel stepped backwards, "I'll get a doctor."  
  
Buffy smiled, "You almost made me have to cash in on our agreement Xander."  
  
"Gee Buffy, here in LA talking to me almost ten seconds and mentioned physical violence, that's gotta be a personal best."  
  
Buffy sighed, "God help me, 'cause I missed your crappy humor too."  
  
The seer waggled his eyebrows, "It grows on people."  
  
***  
  
The next evening found the Scooby Gang guests in the temporary offices of Angel Investigations a.k.a. the Silverlake apartment of Cordelia Chase. Wesley and Giles were going over the scroll and Wesley's books, while Willow researched on the laptop that had been salvaged by Angel and Faith from the office. The younger Englishman pointed to a page of his book, "It could be the beast of Amalfie, a razor toothed six-eyed harbinger of death."  
  
Willow entered the name into a database, "It says here, that the Amalfie won't arise until 2003 in Reseda."  
  
Angel and Xander entered the dining room with Faith in tow, the vampire spoke, "Really, I would have guessed Tarzana."  
  
The elder Ex-Watcher looked up from his book, "Really? How so?"  
  
The seer smirked, "He's joking G-Man."  
  
Giles frowned, "And here I thought I would never have to endure that horrible name again."  
  
Xander smiled, "Come on Giles, you missed me."  
  
Giles smirked in a very non-Giles fashion, "Only with every bullet so far." Faith grabbed the comics section from the paper on the table and returned to the couch.  
  
Cordelia led Buffy out of the kitchen, the blonde stopped and asked, "So you're telling me that you guys saved some Internet Billionaire from a black-mail artist, and now he's putting you on the payroll?"  
  
Cordelia smirked, "Yep, Wesley and I are taking classes to get our investigator's licenses to make it all legit too."  
  
Buffy growled and turned to Giles, "Giles! Why aren't we getting paid?"  
  
Giles looked up at her and sighed, "Because Buffy, we don't have Cordelia to negotiate contracts for us."  
  
The blonde sighed, "Typical." She grabbed a jacket, "I'm going to get some air."  
  
Before she got to the door Angel walked over to her, "Can I join you?"  
  
She stared at him for a long moment before she said, "Fine, 'cause I like having awkwardly uncomfortable moments." Angel grabbed his coat and followed her out the door.  
  
Xander grabbed his jacket, when Faith raised an eyebrow at him he smiled, "Well, I can't let her haul off and stake my boss, now can I?"   
  
He paused at the door when Giles said, "Hello. What's this?"  
  
Wesley turned back to Giles, "What?"  
  
"The use of this word 'Shanshu' in the sentence referring to Angel."  
  
Wesley stood up and limped around the table, he looked at the scroll of Giles shoulder "Yes?"  
  
The elder gentleman removed his glasses and cleaned them quickly, "This sentence appears to be in a Proto-Bantu structure."  
  
Wesley's eyes widened, "Dear God. That would mean that I completely misinterpreted the passage."  
  
Cordelia walked over, "Are you saying that Angel isn't going to die?"  
  
Wesley shrugged, "Well yes and no. See the Proto-Bantu consider life a cycle, so they use the same word for both. But if something is not alive it can never die."  
  
Xander's eyes narrowed, "But you said Angel would die?"  
  
Wesley felt a grin pull at his lips, "Yes he will die, more specifically; he will live until he dies. He becomes human."  
  
Giles continued, "It's his reward."  
  
There was silence in the room until Xander opened the front door, "That is huge. I have to talk to him, I'll tell him." The Seer then left the apartment.  
  
Cordelia grabbed Wes' forearm, "Can I talk to you in private?"  
  
"Certainly."  
  
Cordelia led him into her bedroom and closed the door; she paced for a moment then turned back to the Ex-Watcher, "I want you to teach me about demons."  
  
Wesley raised an eyebrow, "Pardon?"  
  
Cordelia sighed, "I want you to teach me what you know about demons, so I can help out more."  
  
He shook his head, "But Cordelia, you do-"  
  
"No Wes. I don't help out. God it occurred to me this morning when I saw Xander Buffy and Willow talking, I'm him now."  
  
"'Him?' I don't understand."  
  
She sighed angrily, "I'm Xander. I'm the Xander of the group. The Zeppo. I'm useless. That's why I want you to teach me about researching and demon nesting habits and all that magic mumbo-jumbo so I can help out."  
  
"Cordelia-"  
  
She cut him off, "No Wes. Angel's a vampire, Xander's a seer, Faith's a slayer, and you're demon-expert guy, what am I?"  
  
Wesley smiled, "Alright. I'll teach you, I'll bring some beginner's texts over tomorrow and I'll teach you about identifying demons and types of magics."  
  
Cordelia smiled and pulled the battered Englishman into a hug, "Thank you!" She let go when he groaned in pain, she stepped towards the doors, "Thanks again, Wes."  
  
"My pleasure Cordelia, you're a bright young woman, and you surprised me just now."  
  
"How?"  
  
"Well, it takes a lot of maturity to say, 'I don't know, but I want to learn.' You've taken a first step towards growing up." The young girl blushed slightly before she left.  
  
***  
  
Buffy and Angel sat in the courtyard outside Cordelia's apartment in silence. Finally the blonde turned to the vampire she once considered the love of her life. "So you've built yourself a little family haven't you?"  
  
The vampire grinned slightly, "I guess."  
  
Buffy smiled for a moment before she ran her hand through her hair, "It's so hard Angel. I feel like I barely know you anymore. It's so strange here, like an Alternate Universe; a place where Wesley's competent, and Faith is trying to do good and Cordelia's helping because it's the right thing to do, and strangest of all, you and Xander can actually get along." Angel laughed, "That's another point, you can laugh and smile, could things in Sunnydale have been so bad for you that you were just this one dimensional shell of yourself? Was I that bad for you?" She wiped angrily at tears threatening to fall down her cheeks.  
  
Angel pulled her into a hug, "Buffy, I swear, the way things were in Sunnydale, it was never you, it was knowing that I was never good enough for you, because of the things I've done. Here though, I'm not trying to run from my past and pretend to not be what I am. I'm a vampire with a soul on a mission from the Powers That Be to save the world." Buffy smirked and tried not to laugh, "Corny as it sounds, and it does sound corny, that's who I am."  
  
"God, that's almost as bad as the 'One Girl in All the World' routine Giles does." She stood, "I have to go back home tomorrow, move out of the dorm for the summer. I should probably get some sleep." She looked up at the sky, "Sometimes I wish we could have had one last night together…"  
  
Angel sighed, "Buffy, there's something I need to tell you. When you came to LA back during Thanksgiving… I altered time."  
  
She turned to him in confusion, "I'll take 'Huh' for a thousand Alex. What do you mean?"  
  
"The demon I killed in the office, it didn't originally happen that way."  
  
She sat down in confusion, "How did it originally happen?"  
  
He clenched his eyes shut for a moment, "Originally, we tracked the demon through the sewers, he and I fought and we were both cut, my blood mixed with his and I was turned mortal. I lived a day with you as a mortal man, but the demons still came and almost killed me, I realized I couldn't protect you as a mortal man, so I went to the PTB and ask them to take the day back."  
  
She jumped up angrily, "So what? You just took a whole 24 hours to weigh the ups and downs of being a regular Joe and decided it was more fun being a superhero?"  
  
Angel was struck by a sense of deja-vu at her words, "It wasn't that. I realized that I was a liability that would only get you killed. You are too important to-"  
  
She snapped out, "I don't care how important I might be to the world Angel!"  
  
The vampire sighed, "I was going to say me. If you died and I knew I could do something about it, I could never forgive myself, but I also couldn't keep it to myself. If I did, eventually the happiest day of my life would have begun to feel like rape."  
  
She looked at him angrily for a long time, when she actually spoke, it was a cold almost deadly voice, "I don't think I'll ever forgive you. We had this beautiful day, and you stole it from me, then because you felt guilty you wave my dreams around and rub them in my face. Damn you Angel!" She stormed off, and Angel felt his heart break.  
  
When he looked up, Xander was standing in front of him, "I'm guessing you told her about the day that never was."  
  
The vampire sighed, "Yeah. She took it in her typical fashion."  
  
The young man nodded, "Yeah."  
  
"Think she'll ever forgive me?"  
  
Xander smiled and sat down on the opposite end of the bench, "Of course, you're Angel, and people always forgive you, even when you don't deserve it. Eventually after yelling at Willow and Giles and crying and killing vamps, she'll see what you did and why you told her for what it was, and then a few months after that, she'll decide it wasn't that evil a thing to do."  
  
Angel turned to Xander, "And then?"  
  
He smirked at the vampire, "Then a couple of years after that, she'll consider forgiving you." The paired shared a laugh, then a friendly silence, "Wesley found out what the prophecy in the scrolls was really about."  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"It seems that you've got a lot in common with Pinocchio. Wesley says that once you've done all the PTB ask of you, they're going to make you human again."  
  
"You've got to be kidding me."  
  
"No, Wesley and Giles figured it out, you're going to be human."  
  
Angel looked to the skies, after a while a grin tugged at his lips, "Human. I kind of like the sound of that."  
  
"I thought you would." Xander stood up, "There's something else."  
  
"What is that?"  
  
The seer took a deep breath, "When I came to LA, my eyes were opened to a whole new part of the whole good and evil thing. I've learned a lot since coming here." The vampire was shocked at the look in the young man's eyes; he wasn't the boy he was when he showed up in Angel's office months ago, now he was a man who was prepared to fight to the end. "Angel, now that I know what we're up against, all the evil we're going to face, I need you to teach me the rest."  
  
***  
  
Lindsey followed Lilah into the vault. His now handless right arm was bandaged and in a sling. He already had his first taste of phantom limb syndrome this morning when he got out of bed. He had tried to scratch his knuckles only to destroy his bathroom in a fit of rage. He'd made a vow then and there to see Angel dead if it was the last thing he did.  
  
Holland met them at the door, "Lilah, Lindsey thank you for coming." Holland looked at Lindsey's arm and smiled, "The senior partners were very impressed with your sacrifice." He scowled at the older man whose smile didn't waver, "Trust me, we'll even the score with them."  
  
Lindsey smiled cruelly as visions of Angel disintegrating into a dust pile danced through his head, "Yes. We will."  
  
Holland nodded and turned towards the box. "Starting with what's in that box."  
  
Lilah approached the box slowly, she reached slowly towards the lock, "We're all very pleased you're here. I know it's a bit confusing but it's going to be better soon, a lot better, Darla." She opened the cage and Lindsey saw a naked blonde woman huddled in the corner, if Angel only knew what they raised, he'd beg Lindsey to stake him, as it stood, Lindsey was going to make him suffer. Nothing would be the same for the ensouled vampire again.  
  
--End-- 


End file.
